The effect of user characteristics on search effectiveness in information retrieval

This paper investigates the influence of user characteristics (e.g. search experience and cognitive skills) on user effectiveness. A user study was conducted to investigate this effect, 56 participants completed searches for 56 topics using the TREC test collection. Results indicated that participants with search experience and high cognitive skills were more effective than those with less experience and slower perceptual abilities. However, all users rated themselves with the same level of satisfaction with the search results despite the fact they varied substantially in their effectiveness. Therefore, information retrieval evaluators should take these factors into consideration when investigating the impact of system effectiveness on user effectiveness.

► We conduct a user study involving 56 subjects searching over a total of 56 topics. ► Experienced searchers locate more relevant documents than less experienced. ► Perceptual speed test scores correlate with time to find first relevant document.