Searching large indexes on tiny devices: Optimizing binary search with character pinning

Guy Shani, Christopher Meek, Tim Paek, Bo Thiesson, Gina Venolia

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

The small physical size of mobile devices imposes dramatic restrictions on the user interface (UI). With the ever increasing capacity of these devices as well as access to large online stores it becomes increasingly important to help the user select a particular item efficiently. Thus, we propose binary search with character pinning, where users can constrain their search to match selected prefix characters while making simple binary decisions about the position of their intended item in the lexicographic order. The underlying index for our method is based on a ternary search tree that is optimal under certain user-oriented constraints. To better scale to larger indexes, we analyze several heuristics that rapidly construct good trees. A user study demonstrates that our method helps users conduct rapid searches, using less keystrokes, compared to other methods.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedingsc of the 13th International Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces, IUI'09
Pages257-265
Number of pages9
DOIs
StatePublished - 21 Sep 2009
Externally publishedYes
Event13th International Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces, IUI'09 - Sanibel Island, FL, United States
Duration: 8 Feb 200911 Feb 2009

Publication series

NameInternational Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces, Proceedings IUI

Conference

Conference13th International Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces, IUI'09
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CitySanibel Island, FL
Period8/02/0911/02/09

Keywords

  • Binary Search
  • Optimal Binary Search Tree

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Software
  • Human-Computer Interaction

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