Information Foraging Theory (!) (LINK)
February 22nd 2008 21:27
I don’t surf the Net much, just for the sake of it, but I do like to put in a couple of seemingly unrelated words and see what comes up. As a result of doing this I found a book called Human Factors and Web Development, edited by Julie Ratner. It appears under the Google book search, that system where great chunks of the book are extracted, but with odd pages missing throughout. You get tantalised enough to want to read the whole thing, but the missing pages mean you have to go and search the real book out itself.
In this book, one of the authors says: “A key development in Information Foraging Theory is the notion of the information scent. Briefly defined, information scent is the user’s perception of the cost and value of accessing a piece of information.”
I’ve never heard of Information Foraging Theory, but anyway, what it means is that our approach to looking for something to buy, discover, learn etc, all depends on our context (a word I don’t particularly like to use, since it often has overly academic overtones). Whether someone is male, female, has certain hobbies, beliefs, is interested in the news, isn’t interested in it, has money/doesn’t, and so on.
All these factors affect how a person goes about doing their foraging. And above all these is that ‘context’ of time: how much time is this going to take me? If we’re looking for a gift for a special someone, or a new pair of golf shoes for ourselves (something that requires particular attention to detail), then we’re going to have to invest time in the foraging. Having only five minutes to do either of these pieces of ‘foraging’ will mean that however attractive the price, the shortness of time will switch us off from doing the search.
It’s the same on the Net: there may be very attractive prices out there for airline flights, hotel reservations, trips hither and yon, but unless we’ve got time to investigate them, we won’t bother. Real foraging requires time above all else.
If our broadband speed is slow, if the computer has been playing up (as mine has done several times lately by suddenly deciding it can’t load a webpage, no matter how much huffing and puffing it does) then the foraging becomes a chore and not a pleasure. Poorly designed websites will switch us off too, as will ones that take forever to load (even with a decent broadband speed).
The author carries on to say: ‘users attach specific value to each piece of information they access on the Web. As they surf, they are continuously making these value judgements in order to efficiently navigate themselves to the most profitable patch of information.’
So next time you’re surfing, or doing a quick search, remember Information Foraging Theory, and take note of how much the surfing is costing you!
In this book, one of the authors says: “A key development in Information Foraging Theory is the notion of the information scent. Briefly defined, information scent is the user’s perception of the cost and value of accessing a piece of information.”
I’ve never heard of Information Foraging Theory, but anyway, what it means is that our approach to looking for something to buy, discover, learn etc, all depends on our context (a word I don’t particularly like to use, since it often has overly academic overtones). Whether someone is male, female, has certain hobbies, beliefs, is interested in the news, isn’t interested in it, has money/doesn’t, and so on.
All these factors affect how a person goes about doing their foraging. And above all these is that ‘context’ of time: how much time is this going to take me? If we’re looking for a gift for a special someone, or a new pair of golf shoes for ourselves (something that requires particular attention to detail), then we’re going to have to invest time in the foraging. Having only five minutes to do either of these pieces of ‘foraging’ will mean that however attractive the price, the shortness of time will switch us off from doing the search.
It’s the same on the Net: there may be very attractive prices out there for airline flights, hotel reservations, trips hither and yon, but unless we’ve got time to investigate them, we won’t bother. Real foraging requires time above all else.
If our broadband speed is slow, if the computer has been playing up (as mine has done several times lately by suddenly deciding it can’t load a webpage, no matter how much huffing and puffing it does) then the foraging becomes a chore and not a pleasure. Poorly designed websites will switch us off too, as will ones that take forever to load (even with a decent broadband speed).
The author carries on to say: ‘users attach specific value to each piece of information they access on the Web. As they surf, they are continuously making these value judgements in order to efficiently navigate themselves to the most profitable patch of information.’
So next time you’re surfing, or doing a quick search, remember Information Foraging Theory, and take note of how much the surfing is costing you!
The golf shoes I wasn't looking for!
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