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Rational analyses of information foraging on the web
1PARC, Information Sciences and Technologies Laboratory.
Cognitive Science
|June 28, 2011
Summary
This study models web user behavior using information foraging theory, focusing on how users navigate and decide to leave websites based on information scent and cost-benefit analyses.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Science
- Human-Computer Interaction
- Information Science
Background:
- Information foraging theory provides a framework for understanding user behavior in information-rich environments.
- Web navigation and site abandonment are complex behaviors influenced by environmental cues and user goals.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop rational analyses and cognitive models of web user behavior within the framework of information foraging theory.
- To model navigation choices and website leaving decisions based on information scent and cost-benefit assessments.
Main Methods:
- Applied rational analysis methodology: characterizing environmental problems, developing behavioral solutions, and creating cognitive models.
- Modeled navigation choice using a random utility model with spreading activation mechanisms for information scent.
- Modeled website leaving as an ongoing cost-benefit assessment based on information scent.
Main Results:
- Developed a computational model of web user behavior, Scent-Based Navigation and Information Foraging in the ACT Architecture.
- Introduced the Law of Surfing to characterize the distribution of visitor path lengths on websites.
- Demonstrated the role of information scent in influencing navigation and site abandonment decisions.
Conclusions:
- Cognitive models based on information foraging theory can effectively explain and predict web user behavior.
- Information scent, mediated by spreading activation, is a key factor in both navigation choices and decisions to leave a website.
- The developed models provide a computational basis for understanding user interactions in complex digital environments.
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