The Serendipity Society - Should I read it now or later?

Should I Read It Now or Later?

Supporting deferral and later review of potentially serendipitous information when searching for information

September, 2026

This post is based on

Hoeber, O., Pirmoradi, A., Mon, E. E., & Makri, S. (2026, March). Don't Break the Flow: Supporting Deferral and Review of Potentially Serendipitous Information in Library Search. In Proceedings of the 2026 Conference on Human Information Interaction and Retrieval (CHIIR '26). https://doi.org/10. 1145/3786304.3788846

In modern academic landscapes, searching for resources is rarely a linear, single-query activity. Instead, searchers often manage multiple concurrent and complex information needs over extended periods of time. This multi-tasking environment gives rise to the potential for serendipitous information encounters: the unexpected discovery of information relevant for one task while actively pursuing another. While these information encounters can propel the searcher in exciting new directions, they present a fundamental dilemma: the searcher must decide whether to disrupt their current cognitive flow to examine the new discovery, or risk losing the potentially valuable information by deferring its examination (and possibly forgetting to read it later).

As researchers in the field of interactive information retrieval, we find the tension between continuing the primary search or following the serendipitous information encounter fascinating. In a recent paper presented at the ACM SIGIR Conference on Human Information Interaction and Retrieval, we argue that existing academic search interfaces optimized for simple fact-finding fail to provide sufficient support for serendipitous information encounters. To address this gap, we introduced Revelio, a novel search interface designed to support a "save now, organize later" workflow, allowing searchers to capture serendipitous discoveries without abandoning their primary task.

While much of the serendipity literature focuses either on the behaviour aspects of serendipity or how to spark the initial stage of the serendipitous process (the trigger), few studies have approached serendipity from the perspective of how to manage the subsequent process after it has been triggered. This is especially important in the context of information interactions, as serendipitous information encounters have both the potential to spark new insight, but also to distract a searcher from their primary task.

Supporting serendipity through search user interface design

With typical academic search interfaces, searchers are left to their own devices to decide how to manage a serendipitous information encounter. We designed Revelio to provide structure to this process, using a multi-workspace environment to support the pursuit of parallel information needs and adding lightweight additions to the standard search interface design pattern to support the deferral and future follow-up of a serendipitous information encounter. When serendipity is triggered, the searcher may abandon their current search and follow the encountered information if they want to. However, if they wish to remain focused on their current search task, Revelio provides a pathway for not losing track of this serendipitous encounter.

This is done through two key features added to the academic search interface. A “read it later” (RIL) button is added to each search result, allowing a searcher to save the search result in a special RIL List for future consideration. When a searcher encounters a potentially serendipitous search result, they can use this RIL button to save it for future follow-up with the confidence that the discovery will not be lost. Once they have finished their current search activity, they can return to the RIL List to resume the follow-up aspect of the serendipitous encounter. Each potentially serendipitous search result in the list is matched to the search results saved in each of the workspaces the searcher has created, helping the searcher to match it to their prior search interest. A single click allows the searcher to move the search result to the desired workspace. To support the searcher in recalling why each search result was saved to the RIL list, the source query and discovery date are provided.

Studying serendipity in a controlled environment: Creating opportunities for serendipitous information encounters

Because serendipity is inherently unpredictable, it has long been difficult to study it in controlled settings. A substantial methodological contribution of this paper is the development of a repeatable approach to "cultivate" serendipity. Rather than waiting for chance encounters, we created a search task scenario where participants were asked to manage two concurrent academic search topics within the same academic discipline (in our case, Computer Science).. We artificially inserted high-quality search results relevant to one topic into the search results for the other topic, and vice versa. This manipulation ensured that every participant had a consistent opportunity to experience serendipity triggers while undertaking their search tasks, allowing for a rigorous comparison between Revelio and a baseline interface. This methodology provides a blueprint for future researchers to test serendipity-support systems in a controlled laboratory environment.

What we learned

The findings of the user study revealed impacts on both searcher behavior and performance. Participants using Revelio were significantly more successful at identifying and correctly saving serendipitous results compared to those using the baseline system, who frequently missed the potentially serendipitous discoveries or saved them into the wrong workspace to avoid the cost of switching contexts.

The study also demonstrated that supporting the deferral of serendipitous information encounters increased overall search performance. Revelio users completed their tasks faster, achieved higher precision in their saved results, and reported greater perceived knowledge gain. They also reported higher scores on usability and user engagement measures. Revelio therefore provided useful support for deferring potentially serendipitous information encounters. Together, these findings suggest that by allowing searchers to "stay in the flow" of their primary task while not losing access to potentially serendipitous discoveries leads to a more productive and rewarding search experience.

Why this matters

For practitioners, including search and digital library interface designers, Revelio offers a practical model for supporting serendipity that can be integrated into existing systems to support insight creation, creativity, and fluid thinking; it demonstrates that it is possible to design search interfaces that give people confidence to either examine encountered information as soon as they find it, or defer examining it until later without losing that serendipitous spark (e.g. by forgetting to examine it).

For the academic community, it provides a validated methodology for studying serendipity in a controlled environment; it shows that it is possible to design experimental search interfaces that provide opportunities for serendipitous information encounters.

Ultimately, by designing for the reality of complex, multi-tasking search, we can ensure that the "happy accidents" of search are not lost to the friction of poor interface design and the high cognitive cost of being forced to either examine potentially serendipitous information as soon as it is encountered (which risks de-railing the original search) or defer examining it (which risks missing the serendipitous opportunity). By designing new ways of supporting serendipitous information encounters, we can ensure that they are captured, transformed into new knowledge, and provide maximum benefit to individuals, communities, and society.

Author bio

Orland Hoeber is a professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Regina (Canada). His primary research interest is at the intersection of interactive information retrieval and information visualization. He has an active research team working on the design, development, and study of visual and interactive software to support exploration, analysis, reasoning, and discovery in the context of digital library search.

Stephann Makri is an academic in the Centre for Human-Computer Interaction Design at City St. George’s, University of London (UK) and self-proclaimed ‘prince of serendip.’ His research interests are in understanding and designing to better support serendipity in digital information environments, such as search engines, digital libraries, the Web, social media, and in environments underpinned by generative AI.