Visual information seeking

The present study reports on the information seeking processes in a visual context, referred to throughout as visual information seeking. This study synthesizes research throughout different, yet complementary, areas, each capable of contributing findings and understanding to visual information seeking. Methods previously applied for examining the visual information seeking process are reviewed, including interactive experiments, surveys, and various qualitative approaches. The methods and resulting findings are presented and structured according to generalized phases of existing information seeking models, which include the needs, actions, and assessments of users. A review of visual information needs focuses on need and thus query formulation; user actions, as reviewed, centers on search and browse behaviors and the observed trends, concluded by a survey of users' assessments of visual information as part of the interactive process. This separate examination, specific to a visual context, is significant; visual information can influence outcomes in an interactive process and presents variations in the types of needs, tasks, considerations, and decisions of users, as compared to information seeking in other contexts.