[NPMUG] Pittsburghers participated in a 2007 Sheffield University, UK survey ..... results are in ......

[Dave Sevick]

4-5-2007

From: Dave Sevick [mailto:dave at davesevick.com]
Sent: Thursday, April 05, 2007 6:59 PM
To: npmug at davesevick.com
Cc: O.Bergman at sheffield.ac.uk
Subject: Researcher at Sheffield University, UK .... wants NPMUG  
members to participate in survey

Dear Dave,

My name is Ofer and I’m a researcher at Sheffield University, UK. As  
part of an international research project we have developed a short  
Web survey regarding file retrieval for Macintosh users. I would like  
to ask N P M U G members to participate in it if they can. The link to  
the survey is http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=474083573223 .
A few words about the survey:
It’s very short – it contains only 17 questions and takes about 5  
minutes to complete.
It’s completely anonymous and confidential.
It serves non-commercial, academic purposes only.

We are depending on the good will of Mac users - without you we cannot  
do this research. Do you think that you could possibly forward this  
link to the N P M U G members?

Many thanks,

Dr. Ofer Bergman
Marie Curie Research Fellow
Information Studies Department, Sheffield University
Regent Court, 211 Portobello Street, Sheffield, S1 4DP, UK
Email: O.Bergman at sheffield.ac.uk
Tel: +44-(0)114-2226348
Fax: +44 (0) 114 278 0300
http://ir.shef.ac.uk/people/ofer.htm

==============================
9-25-2008

On Sep 25, 2008, at 9:27 AM, Ofer Bergman wrote:

> Hi Dave,
>
> More than a year ago you participated in our survey about retrieving  
> files with Macs. Well I know it took a long time (that’s the way it  
> usually is in science ;-) but now I can finally send you a pre-print  
> of a paper which sums up the results. Please feel free to spread it  
> to NPMUG members if you think that it might interest them + give me  
> feedback of any sort.
>
> Many thanks again,
>
> ofer
>
> Dr. Ofer Bergman
> Marie Curie Research Fellow
> Information Studies Department, Sheffield University
> Regent Court, 211 Portobello Street, Sheffield, S1 4DP, UK
> Email: O.Bergman at sheffield.ac.uk
> Tel: +44-(0)114-2226348
> Fax: +44 (0) 114 278 0300
> http://ir.shef.ac.uk/people/ofer.htm
>

==============

Study Findings 2008

Improved Search Engines and Navigation
Preference in Personal Information Management
OFER BERGMAN
Sheffield University
RUTH BEYTH-MAROM
The Open University of Israel
RAFI NACHMIAS AND NOA GRADOVITCH
Tel Aviv University
and
STEVE WHITTAKER
Sheffield University


________________________________________________________________________

Traditionally users access their personal files mainly by using folder  
navigation. We evaluate whether recent
improvements in desktop search have changed this fundamental aspect of  
Personal Information Management
(PIM). We tested this in two studies using the same questionnaire: (a)  
The Windows Study - a longitudinal
comparison of Google Desktop and Windows XP Search Companion, and (b)  
The Mac Study - a large scale
comparison of Mac Spotlight and Sherlock. There were few effects for  
improved search. First, regardless of
search engine, there was a strong navigation preference: on average,  
users estimated that they used navigation
for 56-68% of file retrieval events but searched for only 4-15% of  
events. Second, the effect of improving the
quality of the search engine on search usage was limited and  
inconsistent. Third, search was used mainly as a
last resort when users could not remember file location. Finally,  
there was no evidence that using improved
desktop search engines leads people to change their filing habits to  
become less reliant on hierarchical file
organization. We conclude by offering theoretical explanations for  
navigation preference, relating to differences
between PIM and Internet retrieval, and suggest alternative design  
directions for PIM systems.

Full Report PDF
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