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Initial sketch:

similar Similar to searching in the  Finder application on a Mac, Bob can build a filter by creating "key-value" pairs for various attributes of the content (keyword, source, date, etc.). To add a pair, Bob hits the "Add Filter" button, with creates a list of attributes Bob can specify. In the sketch, the first item in the list asks what source the content came from, the second when it was posted. To remove pairs, Bob can hit the "minus" button next to the appropriate pair.

To execute the filter, Bob hits the "search" button. The results appear in the reading interface so Bob can see the results.

This filtering option is fairly complex. If Bob is unfamiliar with say Google Advanced Search options or Finder's search options, Bob will be very lost using this interface. However, if he is familiar with them, those affordances will make searching in Hubbub straightforward for Bob. The initial text however does give some indication of what kind of information Bob should input. For example, "on:service" shows Bob that he should input an information source. Putting in an actual source like Twitter would make this clearer for Bob.

Bob could repeatedly use the filter to see what happens when he provides different kinds of input, but this will take a long time.

This interface does not provide options to save filters, remember the last set of filter options, or update the filter. Thus Bob will have to input the parameters for his filters from scratch every time. This is tedious and aside from specifying maybe only 1-3 of the options, Bob may avoid using this interface entirely and filter manually instead.

We may want to add buttons for Bob to specify filters when convenient, such as making the time we receive an entry or the source of the entry buttons. Thus Bob can filter quickly on common filters, and save the complicated interface for more in-depth filtering.

Bob can easily remove a specific pair by using the "minus" button of that pair. However, if Bob simply wants to update the pair, he will have to remove the pair entirely and read it. And as described in efficiency, if Bob messes up his search, he will have to do it all over again from scratch with this interface.