System and method for visualizing and relevance tuning search engine ranking functions

The present invention is directed towards system and methods for generating a visual representation indicating performance of a system capable of accepting one or more inputs and producing an ordered set of one or more responsive outputs. The method of the present invention comprises selecting one or more benchmark inputs and generating an ordered output set for each of the one or more benchmark inputs, a given output set comprising one or more output items responsive to a given benchmark query. One or pixels representing the one or more output items comprising the one or more outputs sets are generated, a given pixel containing a visual representation indicating a degree to which the output item represented by the pixel is relevant with respect to the benchmark input to which the output item is responsive. The one or more pixels representing the one or more output items comprising the one or more output sets are arranged in a circle in a manner indicative of the performance of the system.