INFORMATION RESEARCH

An Exploration of the “Insight” Process Characteristics and Affective Experiences of Information Search

  • Wang Xinyue ,
  • Song Xiaoxuan ,
  • Liu Chang
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  • 1 Department of Information Management, Peking University, Beijing 100871;
    2 College of Information Management, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095

Received date: 2023-09-20

  Revised date: 2024-01-17

  Online published: 2024-06-19

Supported by

This work is supported by National Social Science Fund of China project titled “Research on the Mechanism of User Metacognition in Learning-related Search” (Grant No. 22CTQ033).

Abstract

[Purpose/Significance] The search process is constantly changing. From simple indexing to diversified needs, how to solve users' search difficulties creatively and improve their search effects and experiences has become an important problem nowadays. In psychology, insight comes suddenly and is often accompanied by a positive affective experience. This experience is often associated with a better user experience and improved outcomes. Research on insights in information behavior is still very limited. This study focuses on users’ insights in the search processes and initially explores their process characteristics and affective experiences. [Method/ Process] This study adopted a mixed-methods approach, collected 85 insight cases in the information search with the critical incident technique. It revealed the process characteristics with interviews and thematic analysis of the 33 cases, and explored users’ affective experiences in different stages of insights with quantitative statistical methods. [Result/Conclusion] This study outlines the process of insight from the cognitive level, proposes the three key stages of impasse, incubation, and restructuring, and identifies the correspondence between different impasses and restructurings. Meanwhile, it constructs three affective indicators from the affective level and demonstrates affective themes in the impasse and restructuring stages. This study can help to promote users’ abilities to overcome the impasses, positively evaluate the search processes, enhance the search effects, generate creativity, and deepen the research in information behavior.

Cite this article

Wang Xinyue , Song Xiaoxuan , Liu Chang . An Exploration of the “Insight” Process Characteristics and Affective Experiences of Information Search[J]. Library and Information Service, 2024 , 68(11) : 113 -122 . DOI: 10.13266/j.issn.0252-3116.2024.11.010

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