Iterative exploration, design and evaluation of support for query reformulation in interactive information retrieval

We report on the progressive investigation of techniques for supporting int eractive query reformulation in the TREC Interactive Track. Two major issue s were explored over four successive years: methods of term suggestion; and , interface design to support different system functionalities. Each year's results led to the following year's investigation, with respect to both of these issues. This paper presents first the general motivation for the ent ire series of studies; then an overview of each year's investigation, its r esults, and how they influenced the next year's investigation. We discuss w hat has been learned through this series of investigations about effective term suggestion, usable and useful interface design, and the relationships between these two in support of the TREC Interactive Track task. We conclud e with comments about the general methodology employed over this series of studies, and its relevance to the development and evaluation of interactive information retrieval systems. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights r eserved.