New release: Spring 2024

I am delighted to announce a new release of 2Dsearch, which features a new onboarding experience that provides a much more integrated search journey, particularly for new users. Why does this matter? Well, one of things we’ve come to appreciate since conceiving the 2D approach is the potential of that blank canvas, with its limitless possibilities for constructing precise, accurate searches from simple visual components. But that is also its biggest weakness — faced with a blank screen, many people just don’t know where to start.

This release addresses that, with an integrated onboarding experience that offers four clear journeys:

• a blank canvas
• a set of standardised templates (e.g. PICO, SPIDER, etc.)
• a set of curated samples (showing the types of searches that each source supports)
• an AI-powered search strategy generator (which we covered in our last release)

You could say this release merely re-packages what we had before, since each of these features already existed somewhere in the app. But they were buried within separate, unconnected journeys and options. In bringing them together, we now offer an integrated experience that provides the support you need throughout your search journey, whether you are novice user or seasoned expert.

This is particularly good news for students and researchers who don’t always want to spend time formulating a robust, accurate search strategy. Now you can choose how much support you need from the outset. Want it all done for you? Choose the AI option. Want to start from a proven framework? Choose a search template. Want to see what each source offers? Choose a curated sample. And if after all that you prefer the DIY approach, just select a blank canvas.

There’s lots more in this release, including many UX improvements and bug fixes, so we hope you enjoy checking it out. As always, 2Dsearch is free to use for everyone, whether you’re a student/researcher, an information professional or even a recruiter/sourcing professional. We’ve lots more planned for the next release, so if you’d like to help shape this or have comments or suggestions then do let us know. We’d be delighted to hear from you. 2Dsearch

Read Full Post »

New Year, New Release (2024)

I am delighted to announce a new release of 2Dsearch, which includes a new feature we’re particularly excited about: the Search Strategy Generator. All you need do is enter your research question (in plain language) and 2Dsearch will identify the facets, offer suitable keyword suggestions and build your search for you, directly on the canvas.

This is great news for students (and many researchers) who, let’s face it, generally hate doing literature reviews and often avoid even trying to formulate a robust, accurate search strategy. But now, as long as you can articulate your research question, you’ll have a starting point which you can refine and modify, simply using drag and drop. And for the rest of us who are happy to create our own finely crafted strategies, well, who doesn’t like a head start for inspiration (or even an automated second opinion)?

What this means is that you can now use 2Dsearch to automatically generate and execute a single visual search across a multiple databases, and benefit from automated translations for many more. There’s lots more in this release, including many UX improvements and bug fixes, so we hope you enjoy checking it out. As always, 2Dsearch is free to use, whether you’re a student/researcher, an information professional or a recruiter/sourcing professional. We have more in the pipeline for the next release, so if you’d like to help shape this or have comments or suggestions then do let us know. We’d be delighted to hear from you. https://www.2dsearch.com/

 

Read Full Post »

We have a vacancy for an Hourly Paid Lecturer

We have a vacancy for an Hourly Paid Lecturer 
 
We are looking for an hourly paid lecturer to help support #teaching on the MSc User Experience Engineering, for a 15 Credit Module named Interaction Science which is being delivered by the #computing Department at Goldsmiths, University of London. You will have 4 hours of contact with students for 10 weeks starting January 2024. 
 
This module is designed from the user’s perspective and aims to apply knowledge of human perceptual and cognitive abilities to optimize the design of interactive products and systems. This module will explore concepts from cognitive modelling to data visualization and interaction design practice. Students will apply a scientific understanding of human behavior to design an interactive prototype to demonstrate UX design principles which they will then evaluate using appropriate research methods. 

  
The Person 
We are looking for an enthusiastic lecturer with a relevant UX / HCI (Human Computer Interaction) background who has an inspiring approach to teaching. 
 
Ideal Attributes 

• A degree in HCI, cognitive psychology, UX design or a related discipline or industry experience 
• Teaching ability of relevant theory and practice to your subject 
• Experience in contemporary interaction design principles and practice 

• Experience with supporting diverse cohorts of students is desirable 
    

These elements will be taught in a way that is suitable for students without a mathematical or computer science background with a focus on cognitive psychology, interaction design and user experience. This module will be taught from a perspective that emphasizes the value of collaboration and group working. 
 
If you are interested in this exciting role, please email Dr. Tony Russell-Rose (truss003@gold.ac.uk) with your CV and a short covering letter outlining your suitability for the role. 

Read Full Post »

Goldsmiths UX Conference 2023

Last week we had our UX Conference at Goldsmiths, which is the annual event where our outgoing MSc cohort get to present the results of their final projects. It was wonderful to see so many excellent presentations but sad to say goodbye to such a talented group of students (although for the handful who will be staying on as teaching assistants it may be more a case or ‘au revoir’ 🙂

I’m sure you will all go on to achieve great things. Do keep in touch!

Read Full Post »

PhD project topics 2023

I am recruiting sponsored or self-funded PhD students who wish to undertake projects in the areas of natural language processing, information retrieval and human-computer interaction including the project outlines listed below. 

I have also appended some more focused MSc-level project ideas based on current work with 2Dsearch. Some of these have the potential to be scalable to PhD level work, so feel free to adapt / enhance them to accommodate your own ideas and interests. Note also that this list is not exhaustive: we have other project ideas and proposals which are not quite ready for public dissemination. 

If you are a self-funded student considering a PhD in any of the topics below please look at the further information and/or email me to discuss. 

Read Full Post »

A prototype debugger for search strategies

In this video we explore how we might take ideas from the world of software engineering and apply them to the challenge of search strategy formulation. We demonstrate a prototype ‘debugger’ which provides insight into the behaviour of search strategies, helping users to inspect, understand and validate them. This work was completed in collaboration with Jingfan Zang as part of his Master’s thesis in User Experience Engineering and was accepted as a demo_paper at the ACM SIGIR Conference on Human Information Interaction and Retrieval (CHIIR 2023).

Read Full Post »

A new way to search for patents

I am delighted to announce a new release of 2Dsearch, with various improvements including an integration with two of the world’s biggest patent databases: Google Patents and Lens Patents. What this means is that you can now run a single visual search across 14 different sources and benefit from automated translations for many more. And with the addition of Google Patents and Lens Patents, you can now use 2Dsearch for patent searching and competitive intelligence, with free starter examples for each.

We’ve lots more planned for the next release, so if you’d like to help shape this or have comments or suggestions then do let us know. We’d be delighted to hear from you.

 

Read Full Post »

A comparative study of visual and form-based query builders

I’m delighted to report that our paper ‘Think outside the search box: A comparative study of visual and form-based query builders‘ has just been published in the Journal of Information Science. It’s been a long time in the making, primarily as the work involved an extensive set of empirical user studies and associated data analysis, for which much of the credit goes to my colleague and co-author Tanja Svarre. I am particularly pleased that this paper has made it into the public domain as it not only provides substance to the anecdotal evidence we’ve gathered around the value of visual approaches to advanced/systematic search, but also sets the scene for a follow-up paper focusing on a different demographic (with some quite unexpected differences between the two).

Feedback so far has been very informative, so keep it coming in. Abstract follows below:

Read Full Post »

Goldsmiths UX Conference 2022

Last week we had our UX Conference at Goldsmiths, which is the annual forum where our outgoing MSc cohort get to present the results of their final projects. It was wonderful to see so many excellent presentations but sad to have to say goodbye to such a talented group of people (although for the handful who will be staying with us as TAs it may be more a case or ‘au revoir’).

Sorry I didn’t take more photos, and that the cohort was too large for a selfie… I’m sure you will go on to achieve great things. Do keep in touch!

Read Full Post »

Research Associate in information retrieval / user experience

I am currently hiring for the following position. If you know of anyone suitable, please encourage them to apply!

Research Associate in the field of information retrieval / user experience (0.5 FTE)

This role is part of a Google-funded research project that aims to use AI (Artificial Intelligence) and data visualization to facilitate more efficient and effective approaches to information retrieval through the development of alternative approaches to search strategy formulation. This has the potential to minimize error and inefficiency in scientific research and facilitate more efficient and effective research workflows for the broader scientific community.

Read Full Post »