• Recognizing a need for information
• Accepting the challenge to take action to fulfill the need
• Formulating the problem
• Expressing the information need in a search system
• Examination of the results
• Reformulation of the problem and its expression, and
• Use of the results

(Marchionini and White in Hearst, 2009)

An interesting criticism of this model came out last year in a paper by Max Wilson called “The Tetris Model of the Information Seeking Process”. The standard information seeking model sees users as formulating their queries, viewing their results, and reformulated their query ad infinitum as needed in a circular process until they reach their desired result. Wilson argues that the stages of information seeking don’t necessarily occur in a linear process but can be better visualized as a Tetris layout where information must be fitted together to reach a goal. In this model, progression, time, and movement between the different stages of information seeking are tracked independently. This model visualizes the quality and complexity of information through the depth of a Tetris block:

While Wilson relates the increasing speed of the Tetris game to the deadlines and time constraints that people face when searching, I see it as also representing the rate which users become familiar and proficient with the search interface. A game that doesn’t speed up could be seen as a metaphor for usability problems. While the model doesn’t assist with aspects of the information seeking process such as query formulation, it does provide new and novel way to visualize how we piece the information of multiple search results together to find an ultimate result.

We would like your input in an online survey, in order  to understand more about  your experiences when making business purchase decisions, and/or going through the process of short-listing vendors and business solutions. By completing the survey you’ll be adding valuable insight into an area of business that is undergoing tremendous change.

The survey will take you 15 – 20 minutes to complete and you could win a $25 Starbucks card to thank you for your valuable time.

Also, you’ll be able to register to be invited to Enquiro’s 2009 B2B webinar series, consisting of six high-powered free webinars delivering cutting edge insight into what’s happening in the world of online business-to-business marketing.

Click here to go directly to the survey and thank you for helping us to create world class research.
 

For a Technology firm, the B2B solutions they require could range from a content management system to enterprise level solutions.  These types of purchases could require months of awareness and research before a buyer begins to think about negotiating a purchase.  In our recent B2B study we surveyed 1000 participants and learned that 51.8% of them used a search engine while they were in the research phase.  We learned that as the user moves down the sales cycle they tend to favor B2B vertical websites and the vendors' website plays a larger role (28.4% at the purchase phase).  However, let's get back to the researcher.  The VP of Marketing for a large organization that has been tasked with shopping for a complex product (i.e. content management system) and we know they are starting their research at a search engine.

Influencing Factors
If we first think of the offline influences that may shape your frame of mind when starting your search, word of mouth from a colleague ranks the highest, followed by advice from a friend, then advice from a paid consultant.  So you've been swayed a little bit and you have a few ideas in mind as you set out to do your research.  While this whole process starts at a search engine, the most important factor influencing your buying decision is the vendors' website.  The search engine has helped you find the vendor you want to consider.  Now what aspects of that company and their website will convince you to shell out the big bucks for your high-cost content management system?