Changing the Way People Search for Information, Through Algorithms and User Interfaces

Senior Microsoft Corp. Researcher Susan Dumais predicts that in 10 years, we will look back on today?s search interfaces and recognize them as a simple and limited way to interact with information. After all, she explains, a 5-inch-long rectangle with a long list of text results beneath it doesn?t do much to help people make sense of the billions upon billions of unorganized bits of data in the world.

Dumais sees plenty of room for improvement, both in how people specify their information needs and how the results of queries are presented to them. If she has her way, a decade from now people will be able to easily locate the information they need and use the results in context ? without even realizing they?re searching.

If anyone can make the notion of a search function disappear, Dumais is a likely candidate. Her years of research work recently earned her a coveted spot in the CHI Academy, an honorary group of leaders in the field of human-computer interaction (HCI). The award was presented by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) SIGCHI, the ACM?s Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction, which brings together people working on the design, evaluation, implementation and study of interactive computing systems for human use. Dumais was recognized for her cumulative contributions to the study of HCI, her influence on the work of others and her development of new research directions. (Via Microsoft)