Drop-Down Democracy: Internet Portal Design Influences Voters' Search Strategies

  • Authors:
  • Scott P. Robertson;Christine E. Wania;George Abraham;S. Joon Park

  • Affiliations:
  • -;-;-;-

  • Venue:
  • HICSS '08 Proceedings of the Proceedings of the 41st Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences
  • Year:
  • 2008

Quantified Score

Hi-index 0.00

Visualization

Abstract

In this study we report how different interfaces for searching the internet changed the strategies and information opportunities of voters as they searched for political information. A drop-down interface that helped users define specific queries was compared to a traditional typed- query interface. The drop-down interface resulted in a broader set of information opportunities. Voters using the drop-down interface relied less on candidate websites, visited a broader sampling of website types, and examined issues more closely. Portal design heavily influences search strategies and information opportunities.