Graphical Web directory for Web search

This study addresses graphical Web directory, a new way to present hierarchical structure of Web directory. An analysis of the characteristics and problems of current Web directories is presented. The feature graphical Web directory for supporting information processing and decision making in Web directory browsing in Web search is proposed to improve users' performance and satisfaction. An experiment was conducted to test the effectiveness of the proposed feature. The results of the experiment indicated that (a) the enhancement of this feature improved users' initial and overall search performance by 32.6 and 43.4%, respectively, (b) the enhancement of this feature also improved users' satisfaction by 27.7%.