Exploring the context of visual information seeking

Information seeking is an interactive behaviour of the end users with information systems, which occurs in a real environment known as context. Context affects information-seeking behaviour in many different ways. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the factors that potentially constitute the context of visual information seeking. We used a Straussian version of grounded theory, a qualitative approach, to conduct the study. Using a purposive sampling method, 28 subjects participated in the study. The data were analysed using open, axial and selective coding in MAXQDA software. The contextual factors influencing visual information seeking were classified into seven categories, including: user characteristics, general search features, visual search features, display of results, accessibility of results, task type and environmental factors. This study contributes to a better understanding of how people conduct searches in and interact with visual search interfaces. Results have important implications for the designers of information retrieval systems. This paper is among the pioneer studies investigating contextual factors influencing information seeking in visual information retrieval systems.