Methods for Visualizing User Models

Personalized information retrieval systems are unlikely to achieve widespread use unless users trust the system to retrieve useful information without excluding important information. The field of user modeling involves determining the preferences of individuals. For people to rely on a personalized information retrieval system, they must sufficiently understand and feel in control of their user model. An obstacle is that user modeling information is primarily statistical and not easily comprehended. PeerGlass is an architecture for visualizing user models. It is currently implemented as part of a personalized newspaper system. PeerGlass employs 3D widgets called totem poles to help readers understand why an article was selected. There is also a Rolodex of model planes that allow users to explore their user models. Both of these methods for visualizing user models are extendible to other domains. A user study has been conducted to critically evaluate the current implementation, suggest improvements, and determine where future effort should be directed.