We propose Coactive Learning as a model of interaction between a learning
system and a human user, where both have the common goal of providing results
of maximum utility to the user. At each step, the system (e.g. search engine)
receives a context (e.g. query) and predicts an object (e.g. ranking). The user
responds by correcting the system if necessary, providing a slightly improved
-- but not necessarily optimal -- object as feedback. We argue that such
feedback can often be inferred from observable user behavior, for example, from
clicks in web-search.
For ambiguous queries, conventional retrieval systems are bound by two
conflicting goals. On the one hand, they should diversify and strive to present
results for as many query intents as possible. On the other hand, they should
provide depth for each intent by displaying more than a single result. Since
both diversity and depth cannot be achieved simultaneously in the conventional
static retrieval model, we propose a new dynamic ranking approach.