How Does Mobile Context Affect People's Web Search Behavior?: A Diary Study of Mobile Information Needs and Search Behaviors

Abstract

Mobile devices have become popular to access the information on-the-move. However, the physical restrictions of mobile devices such as display size and input capabilities and the changes of users' contexts may affect the users' information needs and search behaviors. In order to design a new search service which takes mobile users' situation into consideration, it is essential to understand search behaviors of mobile users in detail. In this work, we conducted a diary study using 26 participants in Japan, focusing on how mobile context affects users' information needs and search behaviors. In particular, we focus on detailed behaviors when users failed to find the information they needed. Our main findings include that user's search behaviors were affected not only by the information needs but also the place where the searches were conducted, which might be an important cue to design future mobile search services and applications.