Visualization for Search: Strolling through Information Landscapes

Abstract

Regardless whether during work or leisure, growing information spaces accompany more and more of our everyday activities. As we go through lists of search results, news items, and status updates, we encounter digital information for a wide range of purposes. While the dominant models of information seeking emphasize information needs and gaps, the model of the information flaneur advocates a shift away from deficiencies towards more positive tendencies such as curiosity and creativity. Using the exploratory mindset of an urban flaneur as a lens, one can envision new ways of making information collections more explorable using interactive visualizations. In this talk, I will present the information flaneur and several visualization projects that are inspired by this positive model for information seeking.