MuZeeker: a domain specific Wikipedia-based search engine

We describe MuZeeker, a search engine with domain knowledge based on Wikipedia. MuZeeker enables the user to refine a search in multiple steps by means of category selection. In the present version we focus on multimedia search related to music and we present two prototype search applications (web-based and mobile). A category based filtering approach enables the user to refine a search through relevance feedback by category selection instead of typing additional text, which was found to be an advantage in the mobile MuZeeker application. We report from a usability evaluation using the think aloud protocol, in which N=10 participants performed tasks using respectively MuZeeker and a customized Google search engine. The experiment gave initial indications that participants were capable of solving tasks slightly better using MuZeeker, while the "inexperienced" MuZeeker users performed slightly slower than experienced Google users. 75% of the participants reported a subjective preference for MuZeeker.