UCmore Tour

The UCmore Concept

UCmore is a revolutionary concept in online exploration: A structured knowledge base that empowers searching and surfing. Wherever users go, or whatever they ask for, UCmore can point to related topics, major websites, and useful resources.

While search engines have masses of unstructured information, UCmore has knowledge. It knows which websites are important and what's related to what. Its categories map out the topic of a search, helping users decide on what to focus, or how to branch out into new fields.

Enlightened Search

Most users who perform research online turn to search engines. The big advantage of search engines - also their major disadvantage - is that they have access to almost all the information that exists. Like a good private investigator or an earnest librarian, a search engine can dig up almost any piece of information users ask for. But very often, users start their search without knowing exactly what they're looking for, or how to ask for it.

For example, a user looking to buy a computer might use Google to search for the straightforward phrase "buy computer." These are the first ten results Google returns:

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

BUY.COM - Computer Systems for Home and Office BUY.COM - Over 1 million cool products direct to you Shopper.com Dell - US Home Page CDW.com Hardware Planet: Computer Warehouse Holborn Books - Buy Computer Books Online Insight Components - one-stop source for PC components Before You Buy: Computer Hardware Gifts Game Library: Buy computer games online ...

The list above goes on for 480,000 pages. But even these top ten results, which contain general shopping sites, specialist shopping sites, a bookstore, a "hints and tips" site and a computer game store, demonstrate the enormous variance in the results returned by search engines. How can a user make sense of so many hyperlinks, leading to so many different types of information?

UCmore solves the problem by showing the user categories related to the search. The categories Hardware Retailers and Software Retailers contain websites of companies that sell computers and related products. Consumer Information points to consumer guides, "hints and tips" sites and computer safety information. Hardware Reviews contains websites that provide independent information on computer equipment.

Within each category are links to quality websites, each with a short summary. Each of these can serve as a good starting point, or a good way to expand the search. The user may have started off searching for a computer retailer, but now has the option of checking hardware reviews or brushing up on the latest in office software.

Guided surfing

Each time a user visits a website, the UCmore toolbar, an unobtrusive browser add-on, recognizes the subject of the site and offers related categories. These provide an expert's view of the subject covered by the site. UCmore shows alternatives to the website being viewed, alongside useful, conceptually-linked sites.

When a user visits the website of a hardware retailer, looking for a new computer, the categories Peripherals, Storage, Systems and Components appear in their toolbar. Here are a few more examples of how the UCmore toolbar can lead users in new directions:

Website Visited		UCmore Categories Shown
newyorktimes.com
nba.com
lycos.com
usedcars.com
amazon.com
kazaa.com
google.com

These suggestions, appearing silently at the top of the browser window, can lead users to a more enjoyable and successful exploration of the web.