tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5068198388134099737.post1050210043501781632..comments2024-02-28T16:02:42.157-07:00Comments on Birding Is Fun!: Birding App Study - Advanced Search DiscussionAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11333731452974780237noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5068198388134099737.post-90026802435438594102011-05-14T16:29:44.228-06:002011-05-14T16:29:44.228-06:00@Nigel - thanks for sharing this helpful informati...@Nigel - thanks for sharing this helpful information!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11333731452974780237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5068198388134099737.post-50303532690448053982011-05-14T10:22:30.714-06:002011-05-14T10:22:30.714-06:00Search, as implemented in most birding apps, is ab...Search, as implemented in most birding apps, is absolutely the wrong approach for beginning birders. As you found, the temptation is to give the app far too much information. It only leads to frustration when the app doesn't return the expected results.<br /><br />There is a well recognized — but unfortunately named — approach to identification that is much better suited to beginning birders. Jizz — bastardized acronym for generalized size and shape - advocates getting a quick general impression of a bird that provides a starting point for further investigation. For example, it's chicken-like or it's sort of like a thrush.<br /><br />Houghton Mifflin's Peterson Field Guide to Birds of North America, and it's East and West sub-species, implement this jizz approach in the way the books are organized. With a little familiarity, a beginning birder can quickly orient themselves at roughly the right place in the book, and then flick through pages of illustrations to find a group of birds that looks similar to the bird they observed.<br /><br />When we designed the Peterson Birds of North America app, we kept the organization of the Peterson book intact, knowing that years of expertise had gone into making this the best way to get a positive identification. The first thing you see when you open the Peterson Birds app is a visual representation of groups of similar birds. Same as the book. You can then quickly flick through virtual pages to get to a screen with likely looking birds. The Peterson ID system arrows on each illustration show important field marks that a beginning birder can focus on, and you have quick access to range maps and songs that can help further narrow down candidate birds.<br /><br />Our approach to aiding identification is radically different to that of other apps. We use the computer's search engine to deliver screens of information fast — because that's what it's good at — and we use the user's eyes and brain to finish the identification — because that's what they're good at.<br /><br />I'm not saying search has no place in a birding app. It's great for filtering birds by location or for experienced birders looking up specific characteristics when they know how the search works. But for beginning birders, search is definitely the wrong way to identify a bird.<br /><br />Nigel Hall<br />President<br />Appweavers, Inc.<br />www.petersonguides.comNigel Hallhttp://www.petersonguides.comnoreply@blogger.com