Characterizing the Stages of Complex Tasks

Stage is an essential facet of task. At different stages of search, users' search strategies are often influenced by different search intentions, encountered problems, as well as knowledge states. In previous studies, information seeking and interactive IR researchers have developed and validated some frameworks for describing various task facets and features. However, few studies have explored how to depict and differentiate different stages or states of complex search tasks in a comprehensive, multidimensional manner. The existing theoretical models of search process offer limited contributions to search path evaluation and the design of system recommendations for users at different states. To address this issue at both theoretical and empirical levels, my dissertation aims to construct an explainable framework that can characterize the stages or states of complex search tasks over multiple dimensions and to apply the framework in proactive search path evaluation and recommendation.