Right answers to wrong questions: The dysfunctional nature of information needs

Melanie A. Kilian, David Elsweiler and Ian Ruthven

Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, 2025, vol. 76, issue 11, 1508-1531

Abstract: People frequently experience difficulties when seeking information to complete tasks. To overcome these difficulties, people require help. Regarding struggles with information needs, past research focuses on unclear information requests, such as ambiguous, under‐specified, and ill‐defined queries, and repairing these by user‐led strategies (e.g., clarification). In an exploratory qualitative study where information clerks were interviewed, we, however, found that well‐formed and seemingly reasonable requests can conceal misconceptions inquirers have (e.g., about what information is required for their current task) and, therefore, interfere with information seeking and task completion, too. Besides being more difficult to identify than unclear requests, such hidden misconceptions also undermine current user‐led repair strategies as they cause inquirers to believe they are making appropriate requests. Understanding misconceptions in information seeking and requests concealing these is, therefore, essential to building more effective information systems. Our study contributes to addressing this task: It is the first to provide empirical insights into how misconceptions can negatively influence information requests, information‐seeking conversations, and task completion. Ultimately, our findings highlight that inquirers' perceived information needs can present an unreliable and even counterproductive basis for task support, implying that researchers and professionals should rethink the prevailing focus on user requests in designing information systems.

Date: 2025
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