KartOO: Mapping Search Intuitively
Posted: October 27, 2009
INSIDER PROFILE
By Jason Bunyan
Image courtesy of KartOO
When we move through cities, we do so by using a map, a plan. Why not use our sense of direction for searching information? This question is the basic idea behind France-based KartOO, an information visualization company that provides clients with an array of search solutions, including topographic search.
The inventor of KartOO’s cartography technology, Laurent Baleydier came to the search industry by way of ESIM (École des Mines de Marseilles), where he focused on engineering studies and specialized in the design of innovative solutions and project management.
The development project for the visual interface information search systems started in 1997 because of large publishing groups who wished to transpose their encyclopedic contents onto CD-ROMs using an innovative and interactive search system instead of the traditional alphabetical system. Baleydier started to develop educational CD-ROMs and e-learning applications by founding his own company. The company’s current partners include Yahoo!, Google and Intel.
KartOO founder Laurent Baleydier corresponded with DMB’s Jason Bunyan about his company, its features and what types of clients would benefit.
There are said to be nine forms of intelligence. Within those categories, some people are visual, others are tactile and others fall in the other categories. With this in mind, how would you say your search engine is designed, and why is it designed this way?
Our ultimate goal is the ease of use combined with performance and innovation so the user is able to find results in three clicks. KartOO.com’s design comprises naturalistic, logical, spatial and logical intelligence and, by including features on these types of intelligences, we can reach a diverse and larger number of users.
Research results are displayed on topic-based maps showing the relation among different subjects, which is both the spatial and logical intelligence. Then we provide Web users with the means to refine their searches by suggesting related topics and phrases and/or expand the search by using simple + and - buttons, where the user can use both their naturalistic intelligence to select information and also apply their meta-linguistic skills to choose words.
Moreover, KartOO.com makes it possible for users to [articulate] complex requests in an intuitive way, and the information map allows users to detect a pattern, [an] ability related to logical intelligence. Finally, another tool for the naturalist intelligence is our e-trend analysis system, which informs the user about positive, negative and neutral connotations of the term searched, which will facilitate discerning the results.
We are aware of the diverse backgrounds of our users: maybe not everyone is at ease with Internet, has the time to read 8 -10 pages of results or wants to learn and read the instructions to use a search engine, which gives us the opportunity to develop new and innovative options to satisfy the needs of Internet users.
Could there be different search engine formats that would be preferable to different kinds of learners and users?
Indeed, the need was not tackled by the early search engines, which has opened the door for the development of alternative search engines in the last years. The main search engines assumed certain behaviors from the user, and while they provided assistance with grammar correction, Boolean search (though not everyone is familiar with it) or delimiting of their search, it was a very general and standard approach.
If you are a savvy Internet user, the type of intelligence will have a little impact and you will find your results promptly. But other users, who are not familiar, will rely on their skills. So if you are not strong on logical intelligence, you might have a hard time relating the results to your query and finding the best answer, while someone with a naturalist intelligence will be capable to classify and identify a pattern in the responses quickly.
The growth on alternative search engines will allow users to choose more adequately those search engines that facilitate their search according to their type of intelligence. Some are focusing on information visualization, others are working on an ontology search engine based on semantic analysis and in our case, we want to provide a broader solution and incorporate several tools at the same time.
Loading ...