Why do users perceive search tasks as difficult? Exploring difficulty in different task types

In this paper, we examined why information searchers perceive search tasks as difficult, and what factors/reasons make them perceive tasks as difficult. We also examined if task difficulty reasons vary across different tasks (task types). Data was collected through a controlled laboratory experiment in which tasks were designed following a classification scheme. A total of 32 undergraduate students participated, each was given 4 search tasks, and they were asked in questionnaires both before and after the tasks for task difficulty ratings and why they gave those ratings. We developed a coding scheme based on the difficulty reasons users gave, which covered various aspects of task, user, and user-task interaction. Difficulty reasons were categorized following this scheme. Results showed that searchers had some common reasons for task difficulty in different tasks, but most of the difficulty reasons varied across tasks. For each task, there were also common reasons for task difficulty, although there was some variation here as well. Task difficulty was also found to be negatively correlated with users topic knowledge, previous experience, and topic interest. Our findings help understand search task difficulty, as well as the relationships between task difficulty and task type, knowledge background, etc. These can also be helpful with experiment task design. © 2013 ACM.

5 citations (Crossref) [2023-10-31] tex.type: Proceedings paper