Personal information systems: the implications of job and individual differences for design

In an age where information has become a crucial commodity, accessing appropriate information quickly is essential to economic success. Developing ways of improving information retrieval is therefore of central concern to human factors and technologists alike. One aspect of information access relates to the ability of individual office workers to manage and retrieve their own information effectively, and this is what the present research addresses. Previous work in the area has been dominated by designing computer interfaces for the average user. This research investigates how people's needs might differ according to circumstance and examines a wider range of design possibilities. Specifically it sets out to relate retrieval problems (specific information retrieval rather than e.g. browsing or reminding) to job and individual (personality) differences within the general context of personal information management in offices using traditional technologies of paper, filing cabinets and desks. This is achieved by both extensive fieldwork and the use of simulated filing-retrieval systems in a controlled context. [Continues.]