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Edward Cutrell

Bio: Edward Cutrell is an academic researcher from Microsoft. The author has contributed to research in topics: User interface & Web search query. The author has an hindex of 52, co-authored 181 publications receiving 9677 citations.


Papers
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Journal ArticleDOI
28 Jul 2003
TL;DR: The design and evaluation of a system, called Stuff I've Seen (SIS), that facilitates information re-use and provides a unified index of information that a person has seen, whether it was seen as email, web page, document, appointment, etc.
Abstract: Most information retrieval technologies are designed to facilitate information discovery. However, much knowledge work involves finding and re-using previously seen information. We describe the design and evaluation of a system, called Stuff I've Seen (SIS), that facilitates information re-use. This is accomplished in two ways. First, the system provides a unified index of information that a person has seen, whether it was seen as email, web page, document, appointment, etc. Second, because the information has been seen before, rich contextual cues can be used in the search interface. The system has been used internally by more than 230 employees. We report on both qualitative and quantitative aspects of system use. Initial findings show that time and people are important retrieval cues. Users find information more easily using SIS, and use other search tools less frequently after installation.

887 citations

Proceedings ArticleDOI
29 Apr 2007
TL;DR: It was found that adding information to the contextual snippet significantly improved performance for informational tasks but degraded performance for navigational tasks.
Abstract: Web search services are among the most heavily used applications on the World Wide Web. Perhaps because search is used in such a huge variety of tasks and contexts, the user interface must strike a careful balance to meet all user needs. We describe a study that used eye tracking methodologies to explore the effects of changes in the presentation of search results. We found that adding information to the contextual snippet significantly improved performance for informational tasks but degraded performance for navigational tasks. We discuss possible reasons for this difference and the design implications for better presentation of search results.

484 citations

Proceedings Article
01 Jan 2001
TL;DR: In this paper, the influence of instant messaging (IM) on ongoing computing tasks was investigated. And the authors showed that interruptions coming early during a search task are more likely to result in the user forgetting the primary task goal than interruptions that arrive later on.
Abstract: We describe a study on the influence of instant messaging (IM) on ongoing computing tasks. The study both replicates and extends earlier work on the cost of sending notifications at different times and the sensitivity of different tasks to interruption. We investigate alternative hypotheses about the nature of disruption for a list evaluation task, an activity identified as being particularly costly to interrupt. Our findings once again show the generally disruptive effects of IM, especially during fast, stimulus-driven search tasks. In addition, we show that interruptions coming early during a search task are more likely to result in the user forgetting the primary task goal than interruptions that arrive later on. These findings have implications for the design of user interfaces and notification policies that minimize the disruptiveness of notifications.

407 citations

Patent
26 Jun 2003
TL;DR: In this article, a content-access-based information retrieval system is presented, where items from a plurality of disparate information sources are automatically indexed in a data store, whereby a multifaceted user interface is provided to efficiently retrieve the items in a cognitively relevant manner.
Abstract: The present invention relates to systems and methods providing content-access-based information retrieval. Information items from a plurality of disparate information sources that have been previously accessed or considered are automatically indexed in a data store, whereby a multifaceted user interface is provided to efficiently retrieve the items in a cognitively relevant manner. Various display output arrangements are possible for the retrieved information items including timeline visualizations and multidimensional grid visualizations. Input options include explicit, implicit, and standing queries for retrieving data along with explicit and implicit tagging of items for ease of recall and retrieval. In one aspect, an automated system is provided that facilitates concurrent searching across a plurality of information sources. A usage analyzer determines user accessed items and a content analyzer stores subsets of data corresponding to the items, wherein at least two of the items are associated with disparate information sources, respectively. An automated indexing component indexes the data subsets according to past data access patterns as determined by the usage analyzer. A search component responds to a search query, initiates a search across the indexed data, and outputs links to locations of a subset and/or provides sparse representations of the subset.

313 citations

Proceedings ArticleDOI
01 Mar 2001
TL;DR: It is shown that all Category interfaces were more effective than List interfaces even when lists were augmented with category names for each result, and the best category performance was obtained when both category names and individual page titles were presented.
Abstract: We developed and evaluated seven interfaces for integrating semantic category information with Web search results. List interfaces were based on the familiar ranked-listing of search results, sometimes augmented with a category name for each result. Category interfaces also showed page titles and/or category names, but re-organized the search results so that items in the same category were grouped together visually. Our user studies show that all Category interfaces were more effective than List interfaces even when lists were augmented with category names for each result. The best category performance was obtained when both category names and individual page titles were presented. Either alone is better than a list presentation, but both together provide the most effective means for allowing users to quickly examining search results. These results provide a better understanding of the perceptual and cognitive factors underlying the advantage of category groupings and provide some practical guidance to Web search interface designers.

275 citations


Cited by
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Journal Article
TL;DR: Prospect Theory led cognitive psychology in a new direction that began to uncover other human biases in thinking that are probably not learned but are part of the authors' brain’s wiring.
Abstract: In 1974 an article appeared in Science magazine with the dry-sounding title “Judgment Under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases” by a pair of psychologists who were not well known outside their discipline of decision theory. In it Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman introduced the world to Prospect Theory, which mapped out how humans actually behave when faced with decisions about gains and losses, in contrast to how economists assumed that people behave. Prospect Theory turned Economics on its head by demonstrating through a series of ingenious experiments that people are much more concerned with losses than they are with gains, and that framing a choice from one perspective or the other will result in decisions that are exactly the opposite of each other, even if the outcomes are monetarily the same. Prospect Theory led cognitive psychology in a new direction that began to uncover other human biases in thinking that are probably not learned but are part of our brain’s wiring.

4,351 citations

Book
01 Jan 2009
TL;DR: A brief overview of the status of the Convention as at 3 August 2007 is presented and recent efforts of the United Nations and agencies to disseminate information on the Convention and the Optional Protocol are described.
Abstract: The present report is submitted in response to General Assembly resolution 61/106, by which the Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Optional Protocol thereto. As requested by the Assembly, a brief overview of the status of the Convention as at 3 August 2007 is presented. The report also contains a brief description of technical arrangements on staff and facilities made necessary for the effective performance of the functions of the Conference of States Parties and the Committee under the Convention and the Optional Protocol, and a description on the progressive implementation of standards and guidelines for the accessibility of facilities and services of the United Nations system. Recent efforts of the United Nations and agencies to disseminate information on the Convention and the Optional Protocol are also described.

2,115 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A dynamic model of collaborative tagging is presented that predicts regularities in user activity, tag frequencies, kinds of tags used, bursts of popularity in bookmarking and a remarkable stability in the relative proportions of tags within a given URL.
Abstract: Collaborative tagging describes the process by which many users add metadata in the form of keywords to shared content. Recently, collaborative tagging has grown in popularity on the web, on sites that allow users to tag bookmarks, photographs and other content. In this paper we analyze the structure of collaborative tagging systems as well as their dynamic aspects. Specifically, we discovered regularities in user activity, tag frequencies, kinds of tags used, bursts of popularity in bookmarking and a remarkable stability in the relative proportions of tags within a given URL. We also present a dynamic model of collaborative tagging that predicts these stable patterns and relates them to imitation and shared knowledge.

1,965 citations

Book
01 Jan 2002
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss the role of education as an avenue to liberate student learning capacity and, by doing so, to help teachers take charge of their lives as teachers.
Abstract: Dedication Preface Foreword PART I: FRAME OF REFERENCE We begin with the idea of giving students the tools that increase their capacity for learning. The primary role of education is to increase student capacity for personal growth, social growth, and academic learning. Models of Teaching is an avenue to liberate student learning capacity and, by doing so, to help teachers take charge of their lives as teachers. CHAPTER 1: BEGINNING THE INQUIRY Creating Communities of Expert Learners On the whole, students are in schools and classes within those schools. Both need to be developed into learning communities and provided with the models of learning that enable them to become expert learners. We study how to build those learning communities. CHAPTER 2: WHERE MODELS OF TEACHING COME FROM Multiple Ways of Constructing Knowledge The history of teacher researchers comes to us in the form of models of teaching that enable us to construct vital environments for our students. Models have come from the ages and from teacher-researchers who have invented new ways of teaching. Some of these are submitted to research and development and how teachers can learn to use them. Those are the models that are included in this book. CHAPTER 3: STUDYING THE SLOWLY-GROWING KNOWLEDGE BASE IN EDUCATION A Basic Guide Through the Rhetorical Thickets We draw on descriptive studies, experimental studies, and experience to give us a fine beginning to what will eventually become a research-based profession. Here we examine what we have learned about how to design good instruction and effective curriculums. And, we learn how to avoid some destructive practices. CHAPTER 4: MODELS OF TEACHING AND TEACHING STYLES Three Sides of Teaching--Styles, Models, and Diversity We are people and our personalities greatly affect the environments that our students experience. And, as we use various models of teaching our selves -- our natural styles -- color how those models work in the thousands of classrooms in our society. Moreover, those models and our styles affect the achievement of the diverse students in our classes and schools. PART II: THE INFORMATION-PROCESSING FAMILYOF MODELS How can we and our students best acquire information, organize it, and explain it? For thousands of years philosophers, educators, psychologists, and artists have developed ways to gather and process information. Here are several live ones. CHAPTER 5: LEARNING TO THINK INDUCTIVELY Forming Concepts by Collecting and Organizing Information Human beings are born to build concepts. The vast intake of information is sifted and organized and the conceptual structures that guide our lives are developed. The inductive model builds on and enhances the inborn capacity of our students. CHAPTER 6: ATTAINING CONCEPTS Sharpening Basic Thinking Skills Students can develop concepts. They also can learn concepts developed by others. Concept attainment teaches students how to learn and use concepts and develop and test hypotheses. CHAPTER 7: THE PICTURE-WORD INDUCTIVE MODEL Developing Literacy across the Curriculum Built on the language experience approach, the picture-word inductive model enables beginning readers to develop sight vocabularies, learn to inquire into the structure of words and sentences, write sentences and paragraphs, and, thus, to be powerful language learners. In Chapter 19 the outstanding results from primary curriculums and curriculums for older struggling readers are displayed. CHAPTER 8: SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY AND INQUIRY TRAINING The Art of Making Inferences From the time of Aristotle, we have had educators who taught science-in-the-making rather than teaching a few facts and hoping for the best. We introduce you to a model of teaching that is science on the hoof, so to speak. This model has had effects, among other things, on improving the capacity of students to learn. We concentrate on the Biological Sciences Study Group, where for 40 years science teachers have shared information and generated new ideas. And, Inquiry training is a "best yet" model for teaching basic inquiry skills. CHAPTER 9: MEMORIZATION Getting the Facts Straight Memorization has had something of a bad name, mostly because of deadly drills. Contemporary research and innovative teachers have created methods that not only improve our efficiency in memorization, but also make the process delightful. CHAPTER 10: SYNECTICS The Arts of Enhancing Creative Thought Creative thought has often been thought of as the province of a special few, and something that the rest of us cannot aspire to. Not so. Synectics brings to all students the development of metaphoric thinking -- the foundation of creative thought. The model continues to improve. CHAPTER 11: LEARNING FROM PRESENTATIONS Advance Organizers Learning from presentations has almost as bad a name as learning by memorization. Ausubel developed a system for creating lectures and other presentations that will increase learner activity and, subsequently, learning. PART III: THE SOCIAL FAMILY OF MODELS Working together might just enhance all of us. The social family expands what we can do together and generates the creation of democracy in our society in venues large and small. In addition, the creation of learning communities can enhance the learning of all students dramatically. CHAPTER 12: PARTNERS IN LEARNING From Dyads to Group Investigation Can two students who are paired in learning increase their learning? Can students organized into a democratic learning community apply scientific methods to their learning? You bet they can. Group Investigation can be used to redesign schools, increase personal, social, and academic learning among all students, and -- is very satisfying to teach. CHAPTER 13: THE STUDY OF VALUES Role Playing and Public Policy Education Values provide the center of our behavior, helping us get direction and understand other directions. Policy issues involve the understanding of values and the costs and benefits of selecting some solutions rather than others. In these models, values are central. Think for a moment about the issues that face our society right now -- research on cells, international peace, including our roles in Iraq and the rest of the Middle East, the battle against AIDS, poverty, and who controls the decisions about pregnancy and abortion. Not to mention just getting along together. PART IV: THE PERSONAL FAMILY OF MODELS The learner always does the learning. His or her personality is what interacts with the learning environment. How do we give the learner centrality when we are trying to get that same person to grow and respond to tasks we believe will enhance growth? CHAPTER 14: NONDIRECTIVE TEACHING The Learner at the Center How do we think about ourselves as learners? As people? How can we organize schooling so that the personalities and emotions of students are taken into account? Let us inquire into the person who is the center of the education process. CHAPTER 15: DEVELOPING POSITIVE SELF-CONCEPTS The Inner Person of Boys and Girls, Men and Women If you feel great about yourself, you are likely to become a better learner. But you begin where you are. Enhancing self concept is a likely avenue. The wonderful work by the SIMs group in Kansas (see Chapter 3) has demonstrated how much can be accomplished. PART V: THE BEHAVIORAL SYSTEMS FAMILY OF MODELS We are what we do. So how do we learn to practice more productive behaviors? Let's explore some of the possibilities. CHAPTER 16: LEARNING TO LEARN FROM MASTERY LEARNING Bit by bit, block by block, we climb our way up a ladder to mastery. CHAPTER 17: DIRECT INSTRUCTION Why beat around the bush when you can just deal with things directly? Let's go for it! However, finesse is required, and that is what this chapter is all about. CHAPTER 18: LEARNING FROM SIMULATIONS Training and Self-Training How much can we learn from quasi-realities? The answer is, a good deal. Simulations enable us to learn from virtual realities where we can experience environments and problems beyond our present environment. Presently, they range all the way to space travel, thanks to NASA and affiliated developers. PART VI: INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES, DIVERSITY, AND CURRICULUM The rich countryside of humanity makes up the population of our schools. The evidence suggests that diversity enhances the energy of schools and classrooms. However, some forms of teaching make it difficult for individual differences to flourish. We emphasize the curriculums and models of teaching that enable individual differences to thrive. CHAPTER 19: LEARNING STYLES AND MODELS OF TEACHING Making Discomfort Productive By definition, learning requires knowing, thinking, or doing things we couldn't do before the learning took place. Curriculums and teaching need to be shaped to take us where we haven't been. The trick is to develop an optimal mismatch in which we are pushed but the distance is manageable. CHAPTER 20: EQUITY Gender, Ethnicity, and Socioeconomic Background The task here is to enable differences to become an advantage. The best curriculums and models of teaching do just that. In other words, if differences are disadvantages, it is because of how we teach. CHAPTER 21: CREATING AND TESTING CURRICULUMS The Conditions of Learning Robert Gagne's framework for building curriculums is discussed and illustrated. This content is not simple, but it is powerful. CHAPTER 22: TWO WORDS ON THE FUTURE The Promise of Distance Learning and Using Models of Teaching to Ensure that No Child is Left Behind. Afterword APPENDIX PEER COACHING GUIDES Related Literature and References Index

1,786 citations

Patent
14 Jun 2016
TL;DR: Newness and distinctiveness is claimed in the features of ornamentation as shown inside the broken line circle in the accompanying representation as discussed by the authors, which is the basis for the representation presented in this paper.
Abstract: Newness and distinctiveness is claimed in the features of ornamentation as shown inside the broken line circle in the accompanying representation.

1,500 citations