Abstract
Knowledge Graphs (KGs) enable the integration and representation of complex information across domains, but their semantic richness and structural complexity create substantial barriers for lay users without expertise in semantic web technologies. When encountering an unfamiliar KG, such users face a distinct orientation challenge: they do not know what questions are possible, how the knowledge is structured, or how to begin exploration. This paper identifies and theorises this phenomenon as the Initial Exploration Problem (IEP). Drawing on theories from information behaviour and human-computer interaction, including ASK, exploratory search, information foraging, and cognitive load theory, we develop a conceptual framing of the IEP characterised by three interdependent barriers: scope uncertainty, ontology opacity, and query incapacity. We argue that these barriers converge at the moment of first contact, distinguishing the IEP from related concepts that presuppose an existing starting point or information goal. Analysing KG exploration interfaces at the level of interaction primitives, we suggest that many systems rely on epistemic assumptions that do not hold at first contact. This reveals a structural gap in the design space: the absence of interaction primitives for scope revelation, mechanisms that communicate what a KG contains without requiring users to formulate queries or interpret ontological structures. In articulating the IEP, this paper provides a theoretical lens for evaluating KG interfaces and for designing entry-point scaffolding that supports initial exploration.
Abstract (translated)
知识图谱（KGs）能够整合和表示跨领域的复杂信息，但它们的语义丰富性和结构复杂性为不具备语义网技术专业知识的普通用户设置了重大障碍。当遇到不熟悉的KG时，这些用户面临着一个独特的定向挑战：他们不知道可以问什么问题、知识是如何组织的、或者如何开始探索。本文将这一现象识别并理论化为初始探索问题（IEP）。基于信息行为和人机交互领域的理论，包括ASK、探究式搜索、信息觅食以及认知负荷理论，我们发展了一个由三个相互依存障碍构成的概念框架：范围不确定性、本体不透明性和查询无力感。我们认为这些障碍在首次接触时汇聚在一起，这将IEP与其他假设存在起点或信息目标的相关概念区分开来。 通过分析知识图谱探索界面的基本交互水平，我们建议许多系统依赖于初次接触时并不成立的认知假设。这揭示了设计空间中的结构缺口：缺乏用于范围揭示的互动原语，即在不需用户制定查询或解读本体结构的情况下传达KG包含内容的机制。本文通过阐明IEP为评估知识图谱界面提供了一个理论视角，并为进一步设计支持初期探索的支持性架构提供了指导。
URL
https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.21066
