Information Retrieval Seminar: User-Centered System Design in Information Retrieval

To view this live seminar via Zoom visit: https://zoom.us/j/9274672434

Abstract: The fast pace in the development of information access devices such as smartphones and conversational agents plays a crucial role in the way users seek information on such devices. As user-system interaction is a key part of information retrieval (IR), it is of high importance to put the user at the center of the design. Based on this principle, the overarching goal of my work is to design and evaluate novel retrieval models, inspired by novel ways of interaction. In this talk, I will discuss the evolution of IR systems and the role of technology in shaping user behavior. Furthermore, I will talk about how the existence of various mobile applications on users' smartphones influences their behavior, and how this can be taken into account while designing the system. I will then discuss the importance of user-system interaction in conversational IR systems and the significance of asking clarifying questions in the design of the next generation of mixed-initiative conversational agents.

Bio: Mohammad Aliannejadi is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Amsterdam. He received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from Universita della Svizzera italiana in Switzerland and visited the University of Massachusetts Amherst during his Ph.D. He is currently working on a variety of IR problems, such as conversational search and recommendation. Research interests include conversational information access, user-centered system design and evaluation, as well as mobile search and recommendation. His work has been published in the major conferences and journals of the field. Mohammad has been a SIGIR Student Liaison and is a PC member for SIGIR, TheWebConference, ECIR, TOIS, TKDE, and IPM.