  Information seeking is an interactive behaviour of the end users with
information systems, which occurs in a real environment known as context.
Context affects information-seeking behaviour in many different ways. The
purpose of this paper is to investigate the factors that potentially constitute
the context of visual information seeking. We used a Straussian version of
grounded theory, a qualitative approach, to conduct the study. Using a
purposive sampling method, 28 subjects participated in the study. The data were
analysed using open, axial and selective coding in MAXQDA software. The
contextual factors influencing visual information seeking were classified into
seven categories, including: user characteristics, general search features,
visual search features, display of results, accessibility of results, task type
and environmental factors. This study contributes to a better understanding of
how people conduct searches in and interact with visual search interfaces.
Results have important implications for the designers of information retrieval
systems. This paper is among the pioneer studies investigating contextual
factors influencing information seeking in visual information retrieval
systems.

Information Retrieval