User Experiences and Impressions of Recommenders in Complex Information Environments

We studied how actual users find items of interest in today's complex, recommender-rich information environments, what role recommenders play in it, and if recommenders increase perceived social presence. We used applied ethnography, on-location observation and interviewing, and Amazon as the environment to get an accurate picture of user activity. We found that users are increasingly relying on recommenders in finding items of interest. Since they have developed strategies to combine keyword searching with recommenders for discovery, recommenders should not be developed in isolation of the whole because users do not use them in isolation. In addition, while some users feel that recommenders add to the sense of social presence, others feel that they are not enough to create a sense of others being present.

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2008
• Where: DEBU
• Authors: Juha Leino, Kari-Jouko Räihä
• Keywords: DEBU 2008, On-location Observation, Recommender-rich Information Environments, Social Presence