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Technology-mediated interruption management
Abstract
Previous research into providing interpersonal technology-mediated interruption management support has predominantly been conducted from a paradigmatic standpoint that focused on modeling the context of the person being interrupted (interruptee) such as his/her mental workload, activity and location as a means to identify opportune/inopportune moments for communication. However, the utility of this approach and the associated design implications are questioned by the interruption value evaluation paradigm, which holds that interpersonal interruption management decisions are often made by people assessing factors such as who the interruption is from and what it is about (the relational context). To assess the validity of the competing assumptions underlining these paradigms about everyday interpersonal interruption management, a field study of interruption management practices in everyday cell phone use was conducted. Analysis of 1201 incoming calls from our experience sampling method study of cell phone use shows that “who” is calling is used most of the time (87.4%) by individuals to make deliberate call handling decisions (N=834), in contrast to the interruptee’s current local social (34.9%) or cognitive (43%) contexts. Building on these findings, we present a theoretical framework that aids in understanding the design space of interruption management tools that focus on reducing uncertainty of the interruption context to improve interruption management decisions.
... Software engineering research and information systems research distinguish two fundamentally different concepts of interruptions: Software engineering research conceptualizes interruptions as a form of impediment, that is, something that delays individual work processes, such as handovers, extra processes, or unnecessary motion (Power & Conboy, 2015). Information systems research, especially in the context of technology-induced interruptions, conceptualizes interruptions as nonpredictable events caused by external sources that interfere with a primary task, such as incoming emails, calls, or coworkers requesting information (Addas & Pinsonneault, 2015;Grandhi & Jones, 2010;Perlow, 1999). These diverging perspectives highlight the complex nature of interruptions in the workplace with the perspective of interruptions as a distraction in getting a task done and the perspective of interruptions as intrusions necessary to complete a task. ...
... This broad perspective allows us to understand a variety of sources and consequences of interruptions. Following this line of thought, it is important to understand the interrupted task, the interruption content, the timing and quantity, the interrupting individual as well as the consequences of an interruption (Galluch et al., 2015;Grandhi & Jones, 2010;Jett & George, 2003). ...
... Interruptions have negative consequences, such as increased time pressure for the task that was interrupted, procrastination, and mediocre performance (Grandhi & Jones, 2010;Jett & George, 2003). However, interruptions are considered to have positive consequences as well, including being helpful for informal feedback and information sharing, individualizing work pace, enhancing performance, and mindful information processing (Bechky & Okhuysen, 2011;Chua et al., 2012;Jett & George, 2003). ...
Agile approaches help software development project teams to better meet user needs and ensure flexibility in uncertain environments. But using agile approaches invites changes to the project and increases interactions between team members, which both cause interruptions in the workplace. While interruptions can help in task completion and increase process flexibility, they can also hinder employee productivity. We conducted an exploratory study of four agile software development teams. Our analysis identified (1) programming-related work impediments, (2) interaction-related interruptions, and (3) interruptions imposed by the external environment, which were managed by improved information retrieval and reduced team dependencies.
... The justificatory knowledge informing the testable proposition for addressing this requirement is the "Interruption Evaluation Paradigm"; this paradigm is applied in human computer interaction (HCI) (Dabbish & Baker, 2003;Grandhi & Jones, 2010;Milewski, 2006;Szóstek & Markopoulos, 2006). ...
... Researchers working from this perspective argue that the interruptions should be managed based on factors of social or cognitive context of the person being interrupted, as well as factors related to the content of the interruption (the relational context). It means the degree of alert-intrusiveness can be adjusted according to the alert's level of importance, allowing only the most severe warnings to interrupt work (Grandhi & Jones, 2010). In addition, rules that trigger alerts can also be filtered and prioritized to suppress lowseverity warnings by using more sophisticated algorithms that integrate the receiver's cognitive and social context into the decision logic. ...
... In addition, rules that trigger alerts can also be filtered and prioritized to suppress lowseverity warnings by using more sophisticated algorithms that integrate the receiver's cognitive and social context into the decision logic. Cognitive context has been defined as all aspects that encompass the receiver's cognitive level of involvement in a task (Grandhi & Jones, 2010). Social context includes all aspects encompassing the receiver's immediate environment, as understood in a social sense; this would include the place the individual is in, people present within that place, and the social nature of the activity occurring at that location (Grandhi & Jones, 2010). ...
There is a growing body of literature that addresses the importance of health and wellbeing in the workplace, and the effectiveness of corporate wellness programs. Following advancements in low-cost and unobtrusive computing technology, an emerging trend in corporate wellness programs is to offer wearable devices to employees. These devices monitor employees' physiological and environmental conditions in order to improve their awareness of their personal health. In addition, organizations can harness the aggregated anonymized data provided by such technology to investigate ways of improving the work environment. However, promoting digital health monitoring systems introduces new dynamic interactions between the social actors and technology. Three main categories of strain caused by the use of these systems in a work environment are value tensions (privacy vs. wellbeing); action tensions (work vs. leisure activities), and role tensions (leisure vs. work roles). Based on an analysis of these tensions, design principles for digital occupational health systems are derived that minimize strain and have much bigger chances to be accepted and thus to create value for all stakeholders. Consequently, this study follows the design science research paradigm to derive design principles.
... The Interruption Evaluation Paradigm is an attempt at managing interruptions based on the social or cognitive context of the person being interrupted, as well as factors related to the content of the interruption. Only the most severe warnings are allowed to be sent and, thus, interrupt work [42]. The cognitive context includes all aspects of the receiver's mental level of involvement in a task [42]. ...
... Only the most severe warnings are allowed to be sent and, thus, interrupt work [42]. The cognitive context includes all aspects of the receiver's mental level of involvement in a task [42]. The social context includes all aspects of the receiver's immediate environment, as understood in a social sense; this would include the place the individual is in, the people present within that place, and the social nature of the activity occurring [42]. ...
... The cognitive context includes all aspects of the receiver's mental level of involvement in a task [42]. The social context includes all aspects of the receiver's immediate environment, as understood in a social sense; this would include the place the individual is in, the people present within that place, and the social nature of the activity occurring [42]. The following design principle and design items are based on adapting this paradigm to DOHS applications. ...
Advancements in low-cost and unobtrusive wearable computing devices have prompted employers to begin providing their employees with wearable technology as a part of corporate wellness programs. While the adoption of wearable health-tracking systems might improve employees’ wellbeing, the introduction of such systems in organizational settings might also instigate certain tensions, in particular those between privacy and wellbeing, and work and private life. This study was based on an analysis of these tensions; following the design science research paradigm, design principles were derived to minimize such strain.
... 17 Consequently, existing research has focused on interruptions and factors that make them disruptive, 9,15,18,19 often suggesting a set of design implications on when people can be interrupted. 4,5,25,26,27,28 Although there is a predominantly negative view of interruptions caused by TMN, some studies acknowledge the important information a TMN may carry. 9,13 Some examples of positive effects identified include contributing to increased safety, improvements in patient comfort, and increased accuracy. ...
... Two interruption management paradigms are examined: (1) the impact reduction paradigm, which seeks to reduce the cost induced by an interruption by using techniques that either prevent or block TMN, and (2) the interruption value paradigm, which allows the receiver to evaluate an interruption based on its perceived cost and utility from a preview of useful information from the TMN. Some recent innovations in ICT, such as, reminders 31 and context-aware architecture, 28,31,33 have been proposed to reduce interruptions through asynchronous communication. These systems, however, consider a limited number of factors from the receiver's context. ...
... For instance, researchers reported reduced interruptions with the introduction of an external signage 29 or intervention that blocks face-face communication at selected locations, 30 while others considered an awareness display that presents information to the interrupter about the workload currently experienced by the interruptee. 28 These techniques, however, focus on the idea that both the sender and receiver are physically co-located and do not provide much assistance when they are geographically separated from each other. Further, these techniques require the receiver to remain within the same space as the interrupter when she does not want to be interrupted. ...
Previous research has identified the need for managing wanted and unwanted interruptions from technology- mediated notifications (TMN) in the intensive care units (ICUs). Current solutions are focused on mobile, asynchronous and context-aware mechanisms that consider a minimal number of factors (location and activity of the receiver). These factors are insufficient for a receiver to effectively decide on whether or not to interrupt their ongoing activities to immediately respond to a TMN. We propose a mobile device solution, known as "patient- enhanced notifications " that presents a preview of TMN with additional patient information. A study comprising of user evaluations and interview sessions helped ascertain that patient vital signs coupled with the actual text message assisted receiving ICU providers in deciding on when to respond to the TMN. We conclude that patient- enhanced notifications has the potential to help ICU clinicians better manage interruptions generated from mobile devices.
... 17 Consequently, existing research has focused on interruptions and factors that make them disruptive, 9,15,18,19 often suggesting a set of design implications on when people can be interrupted. 4,5,25,26,27,28 Although there is a predominantly negative view of interruptions caused by TMN, some studies acknowledge the important information a TMN may carry. 9,13 Some examples of positive effects identified include contributing to increased safety, improvements in patient comfort, and increased accuracy. ...
... Two interruption management paradigms are examined: (1) the impact reduction paradigm, which seeks to reduce the cost induced by an interruption by using techniques that either prevent or block TMN, and (2) the interruption value paradigm, which allows the receiver to evaluate an interruption based on its perceived cost and utility from a preview of useful information from the TMN. Some recent innovations in ICT, such as, reminders 31 and context-aware architecture, 28,31,33 have been proposed to reduce interruptions through asynchronous communication. These systems, however, consider a limited number of factors from the receiver's context. ...
... For instance, researchers reported reduced interruptions with the introduction of an external signage 29 or intervention that blocks face-face communication at selected locations, 30 while others considered an awareness display that presents information to the interrupter about the workload currently experienced by the interruptee. 28 These techniques, however, focus on the idea that both the sender and receiver are physically co-located and do not provide much assistance when they are geographically separated from each other. Further, these techniques require the receiver to remain within the same space as the interrupter when she does not want to be interrupted. ...
Previous research has identified the need for managing wanted and unwanted interruptions from technology-mediated notifications (TMN) in the intensive care units (ICUs). Current solutions are focused on mobile, asynchronous and context-aware mechanisms that consider a minimal number of factors (location and activity of the receiver). These factors are insufficient for a receiver to effectively decide on whether or not to interrupt their ongoing activities to immediately respond to a TMN. We propose a mobile device solution, known as " patient-enhanced notifications " that presents a preview of TMN with additional patient information. A study comprising of user evaluations and interview sessions helped ascertain that patient vital signs coupled with the actual text message assisted receiving ICU providers in deciding on when to respond to the TMN. We conclude that patient-enhanced notifications has the potential to help ICU clinicians better manage interruptions generated from mobile devices.
... Activity Engagement: Activity engagement represents a combination of two relevant contexts: social and cognitive [14,16]. In this work, the user's cognitive context, frequently considered in the ...
... literature of interruptibility [19,26,29], is defined as to "encompass the interruptee's cognitive level of involvement in tasks and how it affects task performances" [16]. However, the definition of social context as "the interruptee' physical environment as understood in a social sense" -relating to the place the user is in, the people around him/her and the nature of the task [16] -is closer to "social expectation". ...
... literature of interruptibility [19,26,29], is defined as to "encompass the interruptee's cognitive level of involvement in tasks and how it affects task performances" [16]. However, the definition of social context as "the interruptee' physical environment as understood in a social sense" -relating to the place the user is in, the people around him/her and the nature of the task [16] -is closer to "social expectation". Hence, the activity engagement variable considers only the social engagement of the user in his/her current task [17,19]. ...
This paper presents an organized set of variables that can aid intelligent privacy agents in predicting the best and necessary moments to interrupt users in order to give them control and awareness over their privacy, avoiding information overload or over choice.
... User Features Pupil size events [2,4], EEG events [35], emotion [53,43,15], learning style [57], personality [57], time until next calendar event [22,56] Environment Features ...
... door open/closed [12,13], cell tower id [55], wifi ssid [55], nearby bluetooth [43], wireless signals [22], smartphone ringer state [46,11], smartphone screen covered [46,47,11], smartphone orientation [47], ambient noise [11,6] Interruption Features Content e.g. text or phone number [55,10,50], task complexity [16], number of queued interruptions [46], time between interruptions [20] User and Environment Features Time of day [12,57,56,41,22,46,55,47,50], day of week [57,22,46,55,53,50], month [55], user is in conversation [59,22,12,53,22,21], user's current activity [12,41,57,53,43,23,28,30,50], user is present [12,6,20,19,24], software events [46,22,41,34,58,39,18,8,6,28,13,20,21,14], unusual environment to be in [42], frustration level [57,1,26], stress [53], level of annoyance [5] respiration [53], ambient sound [41,22,20], car movement [32], human motions [32,19], smartphone motions or acceleration [47,11], PC active and inactive time [22] User and Interruption Features Social relation [59,16,50,15], interruption frequency [16], content desirability [42], perceived mental effort [1,16], perceived task performance [16,1], resumption lag [25,1,34,39,26], perceived timeliness of delivery [42], number of primary task errors [29,5], primary task duration [1,34,22,5], elapsed time to switch to interruption [46,53,21,26], primary task complexity [57,16], interruption timestamp [55], interruption duration [34,1,53,5], perceived time pressure [1], previous or next task cue presented [29], elapsed time before user reaction [18], influence from social contexts [15] the user [11], as well as the questionable accuracy and consistency of human quantification [41,42]. ...
... door open/closed [12,13], cell tower id [55], wifi ssid [55], nearby bluetooth [43], wireless signals [22], smartphone ringer state [46,11], smartphone screen covered [46,47,11], smartphone orientation [47], ambient noise [11,6] Interruption Features Content e.g. text or phone number [55,10,50], task complexity [16], number of queued interruptions [46], time between interruptions [20] User and Environment Features Time of day [12,57,56,41,22,46,55,47,50], day of week [57,22,46,55,53,50], month [55], user is in conversation [59,22,12,53,22,21], user's current activity [12,41,57,53,43,23,28,30,50], user is present [12,6,20,19,24], software events [46,22,41,34,58,39,18,8,6,28,13,20,21,14], unusual environment to be in [42], frustration level [57,1,26], stress [53], level of annoyance [5] respiration [53], ambient sound [41,22,20], car movement [32], human motions [32,19], smartphone motions or acceleration [47,11], PC active and inactive time [22] User and Interruption Features Social relation [59,16,50,15], interruption frequency [16], content desirability [42], perceived mental effort [1,16], perceived task performance [16,1], resumption lag [25,1,34,39,26], perceived timeliness of delivery [42], number of primary task errors [29,5], primary task duration [1,34,22,5], elapsed time to switch to interruption [46,53,21,26], primary task complexity [57,16], interruption timestamp [55], interruption duration [34,1,53,5], perceived time pressure [1], previous or next task cue presented [29], elapsed time before user reaction [18], influence from social contexts [15] the user [11], as well as the questionable accuracy and consistency of human quantification [41,42]. ...
When should a machine attempt to communicate with a user? This is a historical problem that has been studied since the rise of personal computing. More recently, the emergence of pervasive technologies such as the smartphone have extended the problem to be ever-present in our daily lives, opening up new opportunities for context awareness through data collection and reasoning. Complementary to this there has been increasing interest in techniques to intelligently synchronise interruptions with human behaviour and cognition. However, it is increasingly challenging to categorise new developments, which are often scenario specific or scope a problem with particular unique features. In this paper we present a meta-analysis of this area, decomposing and comparing historical and recent works that seek to understand and predict how users will perceive and respond to interruptions. In doing so we identify research gaps, questions and opportunities that characterise this important emerging field for pervasive technology.
... From the recipient's viewpoint, the dilemma is more complex. Grandhi and Jones (2010) conceptualise the dilemma as a decision-making process regarding whether to Downloaded by [Ben Gurion University of the Negev] at 07:46 09 July 2014 answer incoming calls. When conditions are not favourable for answering calls, people may engage in interruptionavoidance behaviour. ...
... For example, turning off the mobile phone can result in people missing important, urgent or desired calls, especially if they forget to turn the phone back on. An alternative strategy is to generally allow for interruptions, constantly making decisions on how to respond: complete dismissal, immediate engagement or negotiation for future response (Grandhi and Jones 2010). Clearly, the dilemma stems mostly from the likelihood that such a strategy will interfere with the recipient's current activities and physical social context, drawing her/his attention away from it. ...
... The social context problem is exacerbated further: previous research has shown that speaking on mobile phones is more annoying than speaking face to face . (3) Recently, Grandhi and Jones (2010) have persuasively argued for the importance of a third contextual dimension -the relational context, which refers mostly to the type of relationships between the caller and the recipient and what the call is about. Thus, not only do the relationships influence the decision whether to accept the call or not; the decision itself affects future relationships (Harr and Kaptelinin 2007). ...
Recipients of phone calls face a constant dilemma between ignoring calls at the possible expense of offending the caller, missing business opportunities or neglecting family members on one hand; and answering them at the expense of interrupting their train of thought or appearing rude and impolite towards others with whom they share a social activity on the other hand. We studied people's attitudes regarding these dilemmas, with emphasis on their social aspects. In a cross-cultural study, conducted in Israel and in Germany, we surveyed both caller and recipient attitudes towards answering mobile phone calls in various circumstances. The study also assessed the aspects of providing contextual information about a call prior to it being answered, including types of information deemed most valuable. The results emphasise the importance of social norms in affecting respondents’ attitudes towards making or accepting phone calls regardless of role (caller or recipient), gender or culture. We also found that the norms in the physical context (e.g. being in a meeting) prevailed over norms in the virtual context (e.g. the phone call). Cultural and gender differences did not affect the degree to which people were frustrated by insufficient information regarding the other party's context. However, these factors did affect the suggested design solutions to this problem. The research provides insight into the social aspects of the problem of interruptive mobile phone calls and towards designing applications that help users maintain politeness while handling the caller–recipient dilemma.
... DELICATE follows the Interruption value evaluation paradigm, which is based on the view that not all interruptions are negative, and hence each interruption should be evaluated not just on how it impacts one's context but also the utility it may bring along. 2 Grounded in this paradigm, the focus of DELICATE is to deliver notifications in a kind and effective manner. The former (kind) refers to taking into account the possible interruption for the receiver (notification impact), and the latter (effective) refers to making sure the receiver sees and attends the notification when/if needed (notification utility). ...
... Different factors that may affect the interruption, for example, cognitive, social and environmental factors, have been studied in previous works. 2,[5][6][7] Specifically, Grandhy and Jones 2 executed a field study where it was shown that who is calling, as well as the social and cognitive contexts of the call had an influence on interruption management practices in everyday cell phone calls. Ho and Intille 5 discuss 11 factors that influence a person's interruption at a given moment, among others: the activity and social engagement of the user, and the utility of the message. ...
The inclusion of the Internet of Things in healthcare is producing numerous automatic notifications for health professionals. These notifications must be delivered in the right moment and in the right way to be appropriately attended, and at the same time, ensuring no important task is interrupted. In this work, we have applied a human-centred design method to deal with this issue. By collaborating with health professionals in Belgium, we have designed and validated DELICATE, a conceptual framework that categorizes the different attention needs for each notification, and links them with the delivery mechanisms that are more appropriate for each particular context. As an aid for designers, we also define methodological guidelines to clearly determine how DELICATE can be used to develop a notification system. Finally, as a proof-of-concept validation of the framework, we have implemented it in an Android application and tested it using real scenarios. This validation has shown that DELICATE can be used to design a notification system that delivers kind healthcare notifications.
... Nonetheless, our understanding of the effects of online or information technology (IT) interruption phenomenon is limited (Addas and Pinsonneault, 2015). Studies have focused on interruption and managers' abilities to multi-task by switching between various tasks, solitary work and communication with others (Iqbal and Horvitz, 2007;Grandhi and Jones, 2010). Ophir et al. (2009) found that people who are heavy multi-taskers in media technology environments perform more poorly than others and may suffer from distractibility. ...
... Mintzberg (2007) challenged the classical outlook in which managerial work was described as organizing, coordinating, planning, and supervising, and instead suggested that executives spent 80% of their time in verbal communication that was characterized by fragmentation, heterogeneity, and succinctness. In recent years, special attention has been given to examining individual abilities to deal with multi-tasking environments and effectively manage interruptions, such as the decision over whether to reject or answer a phone call (Grandhi and Jones, 2010). The cost of task switching and switching between tasks can be expressed in slow and imprecise performance or stress and frustration. ...
... Several approaches to interruption management have been developed for interpersonal communication technologies (Grandhi & Jones, 2010). These approaches include (1) prevention by blocking (e.g., closing an application), (2) dissuasion (e.g., "Do Not Disturb" on Skype), (3) notification modification (e.g., setting the phone to vibrate rather than ring), and (4) preview (e.g., call screening). ...
... There have also been studies trying to automate technology to select one of these four options by determining the interruptibility of individuals based on cognitive load and social context (e.g., Fogarty et al., 2005). Grandhi and Jones (2010), however, showed that there are further factors (e.g., historic interrupter-interruptee interaction), which they group under relational context, that guide how individuals manage interruptions. ...
In a usability test of a pre-commercialization product designed to minimize interruptions, we examined the ease of use and intuitiveness of the product through lab testing, while also surveying test participants on their perception of interruptions in the workplace. The results suggest that despite high ratings of ease of use and tool intuitiveness, participants were uncertain about likelihood of use in the office context. This discrepancy indicates usability is perhaps a necessary but insufficient driver of adoption, and other factors, such as the establishment of a receptive context and supportive social norms, are also important considerations when predicting new technological adoptions.
... Several approaches to interruption management have been developed for interpersonal communication technologies (Grandhi & Jones, 2010). These approaches include (1) prevention by blocking (e.g., closing an application), (2) dissuasion (e.g., "Do Not Disturb" on Skype), (3) notification modification (e.g., setting the phone to vibrate rather than ring), and (4) preview (e.g., call screening). ...
... There have also been studies trying to automate technology to select one of these four options by determining the interruptibility of individuals based on cognitive load and social context (e.g., Fogarty et al., 2005). Grandhi and Jones (2010), however, showed that there are further factors (e.g., historic interrupter-interruptee interaction), which they group under relational context, that guide how individuals manage interruptions. ...
... Many observations, like one that experiencing anxiety can disturb one's flow [50], suggest that staying in flow is not exclusively linked to having good memory and a reliable mental model. Since interruptions are known to both increase mental workload and lower performance [10], there is much research conducted on interruption management in software development, focused on interruption value evaluation [14], disruptiveness of self-interruptions [1], coping strategic frameworks [29], etc. ...
... The scholarly study of interruption has focused on interruption on multiple factors. For example, studies have inspected the timing of interruptions (Bailey et al., 2001;Feldman & Greenway, 2021), interruption length and its similarity to the main task (McFarlane & Latorella, 2002), social and cultural workplace norms (Alkahtani et al., 2020;Hudson et al., 2002), and managers' capabilities to multitask by switching among various tasks and communication with others (Grandhi & Jones, 2010;Russell et al., 2021). ...
... Healthcare specialists often need to carry out complex tasks demanding contiguous attention, but an interruption is an obstacle to effective completion and diminishes work performance (Zijlstra et al. 1999;Greiner et al. 1997). A field study of interruption management practices in everyday cell phone users reported that the caller influenced subjects' decisions (87.4%), mental state of mind (34.9%), and the place/ activity/people around (43%) (Grandhi and Jones 2010). Therefore, it is crucial for management to understand how these transitions affect the mental workload (MWL), performance, and well-being. ...
Interruption at work by social media (SM) is a pervasive phenomenon. This study investigated the impact of SM interruptions and task cognitive levels on mental workload (MWL) and physiological indexes. Each subject performed six simulated computer tasks differentiated by two factors: task cognitive level and performing condition. MWL was reflected through three categories of data: perceived mental workload, physiological indexes, and primary task performance. The results revealed significant effects of SM interruptions on heart rate, low-frequency/high-frequency (LF/HF) ratio, and skin conductance. ANOVA results showed there were main effects of task cognitive level on LF/HF and skin conductance. These effects during interrupted tasks were more profound. In addition, participants experienced higher MWL and recorded lower primary task performance in the knowledge-based task than the rule- and skill-based tasks. Our findings can guide managers and employees regarding appropriate use of SM in the workplace and better managing interruption and workload.
Practitioner Summary: Office workers suffer from increased overall mental workload due to unpredictable interruptions while working. This study shows that participants’ mental workload increased when receiving SM interruptions, which was more profound during complex tasks. This highlights the importance of SM interruptions management for employees’ health, performance, and mobile application developers.
Abbreviations: ANOVA: analysis of variance; DSSQ: dundee stress state questionnaire; ECG: electrocardiographic; EDA: electrodermal activity; EEG: electroencephalographic; HPA: hypothalamus-pituitaryadrenocortical; HR: heart rate; HRV: heart rate variability; LF/HF: low frequency/high frequency; MSDs: musculoskeletal disorders; MWL: mental workload; NN: normal to normal; RMS: root means square; RR: time duration between two successive R peaks; RT: response time; SC: skin conductance; SDNN: standard deviation of normal to normal; SM: social media; TCL: task cognitive level; TPC: task performing condition; WMC: working memory capacity
... Another approach to managing boundaries with the use of technology is the idea of disconnecting. To avoid the distractions and notifications that technology produces, practices have been noted in the literature such as turning off communications entirely or, allowing the interruptions but consciously make decisions on how to respond to said interruptions (Grandhi and Jones, 2010). The downside to this however is that desired or unknown but important notifications may be missed. ...
Technology has been criticised for blurring boundaries and making them more permeable, which has been previously portrayed as having a negative impact on work-life balance (WLB) and a cause for burnout among employees. With burnout a growing concern for organisations and governments, this thesis uses a boundary theory lens to explore the effects of technology on WLB. To improve understanding in this area, social media practitioners (SMPs) were selected as the sample to study because it could be said they are extensive users of technology and social media. Studying this group as an “extreme case” produces learnings and practices that could be applied to the rest of the social media industry and the digital workforce. Informed by a constructivist grounded theory (CGT) approach, this thesis draws from in-depth interviews with thirty-one UK SMPs and observation of an additional five SMPs, in their place of work, to investigate the role technology plays in managing boundaries between work and non-work and maintaining perceived WLB. Presented in this document are four contributions.
Firstly, this thesis turns its attention to the boundaries in the digital landscape. I introduce the new term digital virtual boundary (DVB) and acknowledge how these differ from their analogue counterpart and what this means for how we manage our boundaries. This research also recognises how Clark’s (2000) “borderland” can assist role demand management and WLB when a user is within a digital virtual space. Secondly, this thesis presents a typology of new digital boundary preference groups that recognise the impact technology has on SMPs boundary preference and management. For each group, characteristics are defined so that one can identify and align themselves with the most suitable group to assist them in their boundary management style. Thirdly, technological strategies and tactics shared by my participants are listed in this thesis as a means of practices that can be adopted by others to aid them in their boundary management and technology use, to avoid burnout and maintain their ideal WLB. Lastly, the unique data collection method for this area of work, although growing in use for boundary theory, is the first time to my knowledge it has been applied to the WLB literature. Unlike its earlier counterpart grounded theory (GT), CGT places priority on the studied phenomenon over the methods of studying it and acknowledges the researcher's role in interpreting data and creating categories.
This research contributes to the WLB literature and boundary theory by providing a better understanding of how employees in digital facing roles manage their boundaries and avoid burnout whilst extensively using technology.
It must be noted that the data presented in this research was collected and analysed in 2019 prior to the outbreak of COVID-19. This had a significant impact not only on the way in which people work and interact with technology, but the national lockdowns have meant the majority of those employed were forced to work from home. This means now more than ever workers have undoubtedly thought about their WLB and how they manage their boundaries. This work could be of significant benefit to individuals learning to align appropriate strategies to their boundary preference.<br/
... Authors in [40] reported that a ringing phone's interruption at an inconvenient instant can be very disrupting to the present task or social condition. Authors in [41] conducted a study on cell phone usage. The investigation of 1201 incoming calls showed that most of the time "who" is calling was used (87.4%) by persons to make cautious call handling decisions (N=834), contrary to the interrupter's existing local social (34.9%) or cognitive (43%) circumstances. ...
Interruptions are unexpected breaks that introduce new tasks on top of ongoing activities. In work environments, interruptions occur when operators and decision-makers have to deal simultaneously with several stimuli and information sources and have to make decisions so as to maintain the flow of activities at a satisfactory level of performance or quality of service. The causes and effects of interruptions and their subsequent management strategies in workplace environments have been researched in the past, however, only a few review articles are available to report on current advances in this area, to analyze contributions, and to highlight open research directions. This paper offers an up-to-date review and a framework for interruptions and interruption management strategies. The current approaches to identify, report, and manage interruptions in a variety of workplace environments are reviewed and a description of environmental characteristics that favor the occurrence of interruptions and influence interruption management in workplace environments is provided. Various approaches to classify and model the different types of interruptions and their cause-consequence relationships are discussed and the strategies to manage interruptions and approaches to measure human performance when dealing with interruptions are analyzed. Based on these insights, several guidelines to manage interruptions in workplace environments are provided, and future research directions are highlighted.
... • Event contingent entails the presentation of alerts according to the start or completion of a predefined event. This event can result from changes in hardware sensor readings (e.g., GPS [297]), detected events on the device (e.g., an incoming phone call [122]), or even an event external to the device (e.g., food intake [308]). ...
The widespread availability of technologically-advanced mobile devices has brought researchers the opportunity to observe human life in day-to-day circumstances. Rather than studying human behaviour through extensive surveys or in artificial laboratory situations, this research instrument allows us to systematically capture human life in naturalistic settings. Mobile devices can capture two distinct data streams. First, the data from sensors embedded within these devices can be appropriated to construct the context of study participants. Second, participants can be asked to actively and repeatedly provide data on phenomena which cannot be reliably collected using the aforementioned sensor streams. This method is known as Experience Sampling. Researchers employing this method ask participants to provide observations multiple times per day, across a range of contexts, and to reflect on current rather than past experiences. This approach brings a number of advantages over existing methods, such as the ability to observe shifts in participant experiences over time and context, and reducing reliance on the participant’s ability to accurately recall past events. As the onus of data collection lies with participants rather researchers, there is a firm reliance on the reliability of participant contributions. While previous work has focused on increasing the number of participant contributions, the quality of these contributions has remained relatively unexplored.
This thesis focuses on improving the quality and quantity of participant data collected through mobile Experience Sampling. Assessing and subsequently improving the quality of participant responses is a crucial step towards increasing the reliability of this increasingly popular data collection method. Previous recommendations for researchers are based primarily on anecdotal evidence or personal experience in running Experience Sampling studies. While such insights are valuable, it is challenging to replicate these recommendations and quantify their effect. Furthermore, we evaluate the application of this method in light of recent developments in mobile devices. The opportunities and challenges introduced by smartphone-based Experience Sampling studies remain underexplored in the current literature. Such devices can be utilised to infer participants’ context and optimise questionnaire scheduling and presentation to increase data quality and quantity. By deploying our studies on these devices, we explore the opportunities of mobile sensing and interaction in the context of mobile Experience Sampling studies.
Our findings illustrate the feasibility of assessing and quantifying participant accuracy through the use of peer assessment, ground truth questions, and the assessment of cognitive skills. We empirically evaluate these approaches across a variety of study goals. Furthermore, our results provide recommendations on study design, motivation and data collection practices, and appropriate analysis techniques of participant data concerning response accuracy. Researchers can use our findings to increase the reliability of their data, to collect participant responses more evenly across different contexts in order to reduce the potential for bias, and to increase the total number of collected responses. The goal of this thesis is to improve the collection of human-labelled data in ESM studies, thereby strengthening the role of smartphones as valuable scientific instruments. Our work reveals a clear opportunity in the combination of human and sensor data sensing techniques for researchers interested in studying human behaviour in situ.
... This has implications for the design of interruption management systems; it suggests that interruption management systems need to pay special attention to the cognitive factors that contribute to the effects of interruptions on users. While some efforts have been made to understand how the 'cognitive context' contributes to interruption management (Grandhi & Jones, 2010), there has been no real acknowledgement of the role that working memory plays in determining interruption relevance. ...
Interruptions disrupt activity, hindering performance and provoking errors. They present an obvious challenge in safety-critical environments where momentary slips can have fatal consequences. Interruptions are also a problem in more workaday settings, like offices, where they can reduce productivity and increase stress levels. To be able to systematically manage the negative effects of interruptions, we first need to understand the factors that influence their disruptiveness. This thesis explores how the disruptiveness of interruptions is influenced by their relevance and timing. Seven experimental studies investigate these properties in the context of a routine data-entry task. The first three experiments explore how relevance and timing interact. They demonstrate that the relevance of interruptions depends on the contents of working memory at the moment of interruption. Next, a pair of experiments distinguish the oft-conflated concepts of interruption relevance and relatedness. They show that interruptions with similar content to the task at hand can negatively affect performance if they do not contribute toward the rehearsal of goals in working memory. By causing active interference, seemingly useful interruptions that are related to the task at hand have the potential to be more disruptive than entirely unrelated, irrelevant interruptions. The final two experiments in this thesis test the reliability of the effects observed in the first five experiments through alternative experimental paradigms. They show that relevance and timing effects are consistent even when participants are given control over interruptions and that these effects are robust even in an online setting where experimental control is compromised. The work presented in this thesis enhances our understanding of the factors influencing the disruptiveness of interruptions. Its primary contribution is to show that when we talk about interruptions, ‘relevance’, ‘irrelevance’ and ‘relatedness’ must be considered in the context of the contents of working memory at the moment of interruption. This finding has implications for experimental investigations of interrupted performance, efforts to under- stand the effects of interruptions in the workplace, and the development of systems that help users manage interruptions.
... In many cases of our daily life, the phone call is not disruptive even though the user is engaged in an ongoing task or social situation and the call is welcome as it provides a needed mental break from the current task [9]. According to [13], 24% of cell phone users feel the need to answer a phone call when they are in a meeting. Rosenthal et al. [21] have shown through users survey that 35% of the participants want to receive phone calls at work, while other participants do not want. ...
Nowadays, mobile telephony interruptions in our daily life activities are common because of the inappropriate ringing notifications of incoming phone calls in different contexts. Such interruptions may impact on the work attention not only for the mobile phone owners but also the surrounding people. Decision tree is the most popular machine learning classification technique that is used in existing context-aware mobile intelligent interruption management (MIIM) model to overcome such issues. However, a single decision tree based context-aware model may cause overfitting problem and thus decrease the prediction accuracy of the inferred model. Therefore, in this paper, we propose an ensemble machine learning based context-aware mobile telephony model for the purpose of intelligent interruption management by taking into account multi-dimensional contexts and name it "E-MIIM". The experimental results on individuals' real life mobile telephony datasets show that our E-MIIM model is more effective and outperforms existing MIIM model for predicting and managing individual's mobile telephony interruptions based on their relevant contextual information.
... In many cases of our daily life, the phone call is not disruptive, even though the user is engaged in an ongoing task or social situation and the call is welcome, as it provides a needed mental break from the current task (De Guzman et al. 2007). According to Grandhi and Jones (2010), 24% of cell phone users feel the need to answer a phone call when they are in a meeting. Rosenthal et al. (2011) have shown through users survey that 35% of the participants want to receive phone calls at work, while other participants do not want. ...
Nowadays, mobile telephony interruptions in our daily life activities are common because of the inappropriate ringing notifications of incoming phone calls in different contexts. Such interruptions may impact on the work attention not only for the mobile phone owners, but also for the surrounding people. Decision tree is the most popular machine-learning classification technique that is used in existing context-aware mobile intelligent interruption management (MIIM) model to overcome such issues. However, a single-decision tree-based context-aware model may cause over-fitting problem and thus decrease the prediction accuracy of the inferred model. Therefore, in this paper, we propose an ensemble machine-learning-based context-aware mobile telephony model for the purpose of intelligent interruption management by taking into account multi-dimensional contexts and name it “E-MIIM”. The experimental results on individuals’ real-life mobile telephony data sets show that our E-MIIM model is more effective and outperforms existing MIIM model for predicting and managing individual’s mobile telephony interruptions based on their relevant contextual information.
... Consolvo et al. 2005), social context such as the number or nature of relationship of people that are in close proximity or participate with in a conversation (e.g. Hudson et al. 2002), the mode of transit (Froehlich et al. 2009), or mode of conversation (Ter Hofte 2007), or to inquire into participants' experiences, such as their mental engagement within an activity (Danninger, Kluge, and Stiefelhagen 2006), concentration (Chen 2006), satisfaction (Grandhi and Jones 2010), mood and emotional states (Morris and Guilak 2009), experienced stress (Pielot et al. 2011), experience of interpersonal connectedness (Dey and de Guzman 2006); their attitudes towards behaviours or events such as being interrupted (Nagel, Hudson, and Abowd 2004), disclosing information to relevant others (Consolvo et al. 2005), or being video recorded (Nguyen et al. 2009); their motivations for exhibited behaviours such as charging one's mobile phone (Banerjee et al. 2007), handling incoming calls (Grandhi 2008), posting information on social networking sites (Mancini et al. 2009), tracking the location of family members (Mancini et al. 2011); or to ask them to make cognitive judgments, such as judging the relevance or usefulness of an advert (Sala, Partridge, and Jacobson 2007), ranking the features of the product under use (Ahtinen et al. 2008), making credibility assessment of provided information (Rieh et al. 2010), or forming judgments of the outcome of an undertaken activity (Mancini et al. 2011), or one's self-efficacy on the sampled activity (Ara et al. 2009). ...
Despite the recent increase in interest in the experience sampling method (ESM), researchers have repeatedly criticised the high burden and levels of interruption that it imposes on participants, and alternative cost-effective methods, such as the Day Reconstruction Method (DRM), have been adopted by the Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) community. In this paper, we review the use of ESM and DRM in the HCI field and argue for a new paradigm called Technology-Assisted Reconstruction (TAR), according to which passively logged data of users’ behaviours are used in assisting the later reconstruction of experiences and behaviours. We discuss five methods of Technology-Assisted Reconstruction that we have developed in our past work and conclude with a framework that highlights three directions for Technology-Assisted Reconstruction.
... contingent entails the presentation of alerts according to the start or completion of a predefined event. This event can result from changes in hardware sensor readings (e.g., GPS ( Sabra et al. 2015)), detected events on the device (e.g., an incoming phone call ( Grandhi and Jones 2010)), or even an event external to the device (e.g., food intake ( Seto et al. 2014)). Each of these different notification modes can introduce potential biases; " [.. . ...
The Experience Sampling Method (ESM) is used by scientists from various disciplines to gather insights into the intra-psychic elements of human life. Researchers have used the ESM in a wide variety of studies, with the method seeing increased popularity. Mobile technologies have enabled new possibilities for the use of the ESM, while simultaneously leading to new conceptual, methodological, and technological challenges. In this survey, we provide an overview of the history of the ESM, usage of this methodology in the computer science discipline, as well as its evolution over time. Next, we identify and discuss important considerations for ESM studies on mobile devices, and analyse the particular methodological parameters scientists should consider in their study design. We reflect on the existing tools that support the ESM methodology and discuss the future development of such tools. Finally, we discuss the effect of future technological developments on the use of the ESM and identify areas requiring further investigation.
... As different types of interruptions impact the decision making differently, several frameworks have been developed by the researchers in the past to position their studies. The impact has been studied from both the interrupter and interruptee perspective (Grandhi and Jones 2010;Gupta et al. 2013). McFarlane (1997) identified eight dimensions underlying human interruptions: source of interruptions, individual characteristics of receiver, coordination method, meaning of interruption, method of expression, channel of conveyance, change by interruption and finally the effect of an interruption. ...
As we become more and more connected, the number of technology interruptions are
increasing as well. The mechanisms by which a technology interruption takes attention away
and ongoing task performance decreases need more investigation. This paper explores how
technologies can interrupt concentration, focus and attention of knowledge workers through
neuroimaging. Subjects were given reading tasks and subjected to a series of randomly timed
audio interruptions. Using an electroencephalogram (EEG) measurement device, we recorded
their brain waves. Consistent with the literature, we found interruptions significantly increased
task completion time and decreased task performance. Neuroimaging analysis showed activity
in the frontal lobe, temporal lobe and insular cortex of the participants due to interruptions.
The paper also investigates differences due to gender and age. The results suggest application
developers should consider underlying mechanisms of processing interruptions.
... Diverse approaches have been proposed to facilitate intelligent interruption for the smartphone [4], across phone calls [5,6] and notifications [7]. This has included determining the influence of contextual factors [8,9], exploring methods of labelling interruptibility [10,11,12] and training predictive models [13,7]. ...
Smartphone notifications frequently interrupt our daily lives, often at inopportune moments. We propose the decision-on-information-gain model, which extends the existing data collection convention to capture a range of interruptibility behaviour implicitly. Through a six-month in-the-wild study of 11,346 notifications, we find that this approach captures up to 125% more interruptibility cases. Secondly, we find different correlating contextual features for different behaviour using the approach and find that predictive models can be built with >80% precision for most users. However we note discrepancies in performance across labelling, training, and evaluation methods, creating design considerations for future systems.
... Productivity support and interruption management tools have been developed (Grandhi & Jones, 2010), but these still focus on the individual or the individual and the interrupted person without considering the workgroup's expectations and pressures. We suggest that managers ensure that employees receive training on the tools' MC capabilities, strengths, and weaknesses and what is expected of them in terms of their use. ...
Multicommunicating (MC) represents a form of multitasking in which employees such as IS analysts and managers engage in multiple conversations at the same time (e.g., by sending texts while on a telephone call). MC can occur either during group meetings or during one-on-one conversations: the present paper focuses on the latter, termed dyadic MC. MC is increasingly prevalent in the workplace and is often useful in today’s business world, for example by making it possible to respond in a timely manner to urgent communications. Nonetheless, the efficacy of MC behaviors can also be questioned as they have been found to negatively affect performance and workplace relationships, as well as causing stress. During our investigations of this phenomenon, we often heard IS practitioners say ‘So what? I do this all the time, it’s no problem!’ which suggests that certain misconceptions regarding MC behaviors may be prevalent. Arising from research findings in multiple disciplines, we examine four such practitioner beliefs regarding MC behaviors: MC makes employees more accessible, it enhances productivity, it is required in most jobs, and rudeness is not an issue when MC. Further, we suggest recommendations to IS employees and managers so that they can better manage MC.
... This potential disruption can be overcome by asynchronous notifications. Means for managing interruptions caused by notifications include: (i) an interruption impact reduction paradigm, in which software-based agents prevent or block a notification for a specific time period [16,38,48], and (ii) an interruption value evaluation paradigm, in which a preview of a notification is provided so the interruptee can decide to either continue or break an ongoing task [19,20]. ...
Previous research on reducing unwanted interruptions in hospital intensive care units (ICU) have focused on providing context-aware solutions that consider factors such as location and activity of the person receiving the interruption. We seek to broaden an understanding of how to manage interruptions by using the Locales Framework to analyze data collected from a field study on mobile notification interruptions in the ICU. Based on our data along with previous literature on cognitive theories, mental models, strategies for managing interruptions, and principles of human factors, we propose five guidelines to aid in designing mobile technology interventions for the ICU.
... The influential factors of interruptibility have been widely debated, particularly between: user characteristics (e.g., cognitive load), interruption properties (e.g., notification content) and the local environment (e.g., location or activity) [4,11]. Additionally, the definition of what it means to be interruptible is also fragmented, with some studies focusing on: the physiological ability to switch focus (e.g., [2,10]); the affect the interruption would have on the current task (e.g., [14,7,6]) or the user's sentiment towards the interruption (e.g., [15]). ...
Smartphone notifications are often delivered without considering user interruptibility, potentially causing frustration for the recipient. Therefore research in this area has concerned finding contexts where interruptions are better received. The typical convention for monitoring interruption behaviour assumes binary actions, where a response is either completed or not at all. However, in reality a user may partially respond to an interruption, such as reacting to an audible alert or exploring which application caused it. Consequently we present a multi-step model of interruptibility that allows assessment of both partial and complete notification responses. Through a 6-month in-the-wild case study of 11,346 to-do list reminders from 93 users, we find support for reducing false-negative classification of interruptibility. Additionally, we find that different response behaviour is correlated with different contexts and that these behaviours are predictable with similar accuracy to complete responses.
... Grandhi and Jones [27] discuss multiple modalities through which technology helps in moderating the impact of the negative consequences of interruptions as (1) Interruption prevention, (2) Interruption dissuasion, (3) Interruption notification modification and (4) Interruption preview. We build on this model and suggest there is a fifth mode of interruption management called -(5) Interruption review. ...
Paper presented to IEEE Cloud Computing Conference in New York City, July 2015. Describes a prototype of an web-based application designed to assist users in monitoring and managing their 'media flow' for better professional performance and personal well being.
... Whether these devices become accepted or rejected in the landscape of normal or appropriate meeting behaviour and the impact that they will have on attitudes and behaviour of meeting participants remains to be investigated in depth (Grandhi & Jones, 2010). In addition, perhaps new applications can be developed to take advantage of these diverse and powerful systems to support the needs of people in meetings. ...
... Grandhi and Jones [27] discuss multiple modalities through which technology helps in moderating the impact of the negative consequences of interruptions as (1) Interruption prevention, (2) Interruption dissuasion, (3) Interruption notification modification and (4) Interruption preview. We build on this model and suggest there is a fifth mode of interruption management called -(5) Interruption review. ...
Ubiquitous connectivity has fostered an unprecedented wave of mobile computing and communication applications. As the number of mobile applications grows exponentially, a crucial issue is how users will monitor and manage their media ‘flows’ to optimal levels. This means having ‘requisite’ levels of information and communication, while avoiding states of hyper-connectivity. Our research is focused on developing mobile applications that analyze users’ multiple media flows. A dashboard interface then offers feedback to the user, who can adapt and modify her or his behavior for improved productivity and personal well-being.
... Salvucci and Taatgen, 2011) and react to interruptions (e.g. Grandhi and Jones, 2010;Trafton and Monk, 2007), on the antecedents of individual behaviors and management strategies (e.g. Mark et al., 2012), and on the consequences in terms of individual psychological states as well as group outcomes, such as individual overload (e.g. ...
This paper investigates how individual perceptions and attitudes about an organization influence multitasking behaviors in the workplace. While we know that individuals are significantly influenced in their behaviors by the characteristics of their organizations (e.g. ICTs, organizational structure, physical layout), we still do not know much about how the way individuals interpret their organization influences their multitasking behaviors. Thus, we specifically hypothesize that the individual perception of the organizational preferences for multitasking (i.e. organizational polychronicity) engenders the actual multitasking behaviors that an individual enacts in the workplace. We also hypothesize that the attachment to the organization (i.e. organizational identification) moderates the above relationship. We conducted a mixed method study in two knowledge intensive organizations (an R&D unit and a university department) and collected data through a survey, diaries, and semi-structured interviews. Our findings support the first hypothesis but not the moderating role of organizational identification. However, this latter is directly related to how much a person is willing to work on multiple activities on a single day. Further, our study suggests that not only the organizational context should be investigated in the study of multitasking behaviors, but also the larger work context, including the individuals’ professional communities. We conclude with a discussion of theoretical and practical implications as well as methodological reflections on mixing methods in the study of multitasking in organizations.
... In contrast to requiring callees to share their context information, Grandhi et al. [17] propose that callers share more detailed information about the reason of their call. Their work is based on their prior findings stemming from the analysis of incoming call acceptance factors [16]. A collaborative approach for call acceptance decisions is proposed by Marti and Schmandt [35] based on wirelessly actuated finger rings. ...
While privacy is often treated as an information centric issue, privacy issues in ubiquitous and mobile computing also encompass physical or territorial aspects, i.e., the right to be left alone or undisturbed. Disturbances that affect privacy often stem from persons nearby and their mobile de-vices, e.g., ringing phones, loud phone calls, or sounds of mobile games. We propose PriPref Broadcaster, a smartphone-based approach for communicating personal privacy preferences to persons in physical proximity. Our approach further supports automatic adaptation of mobile device settings based on the dominating preferences in the current environment. Results from a usability study and a five-day field trial with 28 participants show that broadcasting privacy preferences is perceived as meaningful and has the potential to support privacy signaling in many everyday situations.
Interruptions have become ubiquitous in both our personal and professional lives. Accordingly, research on interruptions has also increased steadily over time, and research published in various scientific disciplines has produced different perspectives, fundamental ideas, and conceptualizations of interruptions. However, the current state of research hampers a comprehensive overview of the concept of interruption, predominantly due to the fragmented nature of the existing literature. Reflecting on its genesis in the 1920s and the longstanding research on interruptions, along with recent technological, behavioral, and organizational developments, this paper provides a comprehensive interdisciplinary overview of the various attributes of an interruption, which facilitates the establishment of interruption science as an interdisciplinary research field in the scientific landscape. To obtain an overview of the different interruption attributes, we conducted a systematic literature review with the goal of classifying interruptions. The outcome of our research process is a taxonomy of interruptions, constituting an important foundation for the field. Based on the taxonomy, we also present possible avenues for future research.
Given the ubiquitous nature of mobile devices and information and communication technologies (ICT), after-hours work-related interruptions (AHWI) occur anywhere and anytime in China. In the current study, an alternative person–environment (P-E) fit model of ICT-enabled AHWI, hereafter referred to as IAWI, that treats polychronic variables as moderated solutions are presented. A cross-sectional survey among 277 Chinese employees (average age: 32.04 years) was conducted in September 2022 and tested by PLS-structural equation modeling to validate our hypotheses. The results indicated that IAWI had a positive influence on employees’ innovative job performance and in-role job performance (β = 0.139, p < 0.05; β = 0.200, p < 0.01; β = 0.298, p < 0.001). Moreover, among employees with higher levels of polychronicity, the heightened effects of IAWI on innovative job performance were increased (β = 0.112, p < 0.05). This study offers implications for employees: under IAWI situations, they could search for a person–environment (P-E) that is fit to buffer the negative aspects of IAWI, consequently increasing their innovative job performance and in-role job performance. Future research could extend beyond this framework to explore employees’ IAWI and job performance balance.
Human attention has become a critical resource for the effective design of smart services in which control may move back and forth between humans and computers. To avoid errors in critical conditions when the mental load is high, computer systems need to manage ongoing interruptions. In particular, the effect of interruptions can be mitigated with previews of computer-generated notifications. While previews have been used to increase engagement, research on their potential to mitigate the effect of interruptions is scarce. Using an experiment based on a game environment with varying task loads, we investigated the effect of previews on mitigating interruptions at several levels of mental load. We found interruptions that displayed previews added less to participants’ mental load but did not improve their overall performance. These results were consistent in all levels of task load. We summarize the article by discussing how previews can be designed to minimize the negative effects of interruptions.
This chapter presents a review and discussion of related work from various areas within the scope of this book, which is based on the elements of the context-aware machine learning framework presented in the earlier chapter. It covers contextual information in mobile phone data, context discretization, and time-series modeling techniques, rule discovery techniques including association rules and classification rules, dynamic rule updating and management techniques including incremental rule mining, and recent log-based mining techniques with relevant applications for the end mobile phone users. The study also identifies the key research areas where current solutions fall short of the requirements for identifying contextual behavioral rules of individual mobile phone users. We also highlight the limitations of previous work in the field of context-aware computing, which motivates the need for further study based on machine learning techniques.
In this chapter we are presenting an overview on how adaptation of movement and behaviour can favour communication in Human-Robot Interaction (HRI). A model of a communication space based on a action-reaction classification is presented. Past research in HRI is presented for verbal, non-verbal and adaptation of communication. Further, the influence of human aware navigation is discussed and concepts like proxemics, path planing and robot motion are presented. The chapter discusses possible explicated and implicated methods of adaptation as well as it is identifying interruption concepts for communication.
Notifications on mobile devices punctuate our daily lives to provide information and prompt for further engagement. Investigations into the cognitive processes involved in consuming notifications are common across the literature, however most research to date investigates notifications in isolation of one another. In reality, notifications often coexist together, forming a “stack”, however the behavioural implications of this on the response towards individual notifications has received limited attention. Through an in-the-wild study of 1889 Android devices, we observe user behaviour in a stream of 30 million notifications from over 6000 applications. We find distinct strategies for user management of the notification stack within usage sessions, beyond the behaviour patterns observable from responses to individual notifications. From the analysis, we make recommendations for collecting and reporting data from mobile applications to improve validity through timely responses, and capture potential confounding features.
Mobile communication media such as smartphones have dramatically increased the social availability of users. The perpetual contact is experienced quite ambivalently, not only as a big advantage of technological development but also as a new reason for increasing communication overload. This chapter details how people evaluate mobile availability in their everyday lives and how they cope with experiences of overload and stress. Using the transactional theory of stress and coping (Lazarus & Cohen, 1977), data from a diary study and qualitative interviews with German smartphone users are analyzed. The findings emphasize the high level of subjectivity that influences how everyday experiences of smartphone usage and mobile availability are evaluated.
Ubiquitous connectivity has fostered an unprecedented wave of mobile computing and communication applications. As the number of mobile applications grows exponentially, a crucial issue is how users will monitor and manage their media 'flows' to optimal levels. This means having 'requisite' levels of information and communication, while avoiding states of hyper-connectivity. Our research is focused on developing mobile applications that analyze users' multiple media flows. A dashboard interface then offers feedback to the user, who can adapt and modify her or his behavior for improved productivity and personal well-being.
Mobile communication media such as smartphones have dramatically increased the social availability of users. The perpetual contact is experienced quite ambivalently, not only as a big advantage of technological development but also as a new reason for increasing communication overload. This chapter details how people evaluate mobile availability in their everyday lives and how they cope with experiences of overload and stress. Using the transactional theory of stress and coping (Lazarus & Cohen, 1977), data from a diary study and qualitative interviews with German smartphone users are analyzed. The findings emphasize the high level of subjectivity that influences how everyday experiences of smartphone usage and mobile availability are evaluated.
This paper presents a study examining interruptions in the wild by portraying the handling of interruptions in manufacturing from a distributed cognition lens. By studying how interruptions occur and are handled in the daily activities of a work team at a large foundry for casting heavy diesel engines, we highlight situations when the propagation, transformation, and representation of information are not supported by prescribed work processes and propose recommendations for how this can be amended. The study was conducted by several visits to the aforementioned factory with cognitive ethnography as the basis for the data collection. The focus was on identifying interruptions and analysing these through a distributed cognition framework as an initial step towards studying interruptions in a manufacturing environment. The key findings include the identification of three, previously undefined, types of interruptions and the conclusion that interruptions do indeed affect the distributed workload of the socio-technical system and thus the overall production performance at the casting line.
Social matching systems recommend people to people. In an ideal world, such systems could be context-aware, in that they would introduce users to each other in situations where they are mutually interested, available and open to meeting (i.e., facilitate a valuable encounter). Unfortunately, today's systems primarily match individuals based on simple similarity and proximity metrics. This paper explores how contextual information available on today's mobile phones could be used to identify opportunities for people to make valuable new connections. Three types of context that are relevant for this work are: relational, social and personal. We present insights gained from several iterations of semi-structured interviewing (N=58) exploring these three types of contexts and propose novel context-aware social matching concepts such as: sociability of others as an indicator of opportune social context; activity involvement as an indicator of opportune personal context; and contextual rarity as an indicator of opportune relational context.
Objectives:
An inherent part of nurses' work is to handle nurse calls that often cause challenging interruptions to ongoing activities. In situations when nurses are interrupted by a nurse call, they need to decide whether to continue focusing on the task at hand or to abort and respond to the nurse call. The difficult decision is often influenced by a number of factors and can have implications for patient safety and quality of care. The study investigates how technology could be designed to support nurses' handling of nurse calls by allowing patients to communicate a more contextualised message revealing their intention to the nurse when issuing a nurse call.
Methods:
Through a qualitative methodology employing a scenario-based design approach, three different nurse call system concepts are evaluated by nurses from different departments of a Norwegian university hospital.
Results:
Nurses find the uncertainty of not knowing the reason behind a nurse call stressful in situations where they are required to prioritise either the calling patient or a patient they are currently nursing. Providing information about a patient's intention behind a nurse call influences the nurse's decision to various degrees depending on the situation in which they find themselves and the information that is communicated. The nurses' reflections suggested that the message communicated should be designed to contain neither too little nor too much information about the patient's needs.
Conclusions:
A nurse call system that allows nurses to discern the reason behind a nurse call allows them to make a more accurate decision and relieves stress. In particular, the information communicated would reduce uncertainty and lessen nurses' dependence on other factors in their decision. The design of such a system should, however, carefully consider the needs of the department in which it is deployed.
Mobile social matching systems have the potential to transform the way we make new social ties, but only if we are able to overcome the many challenges that exist as to how systems can utilize contextual data to recommend interesting and relevant people to users and facilitate valuable encounters between strangers. This article outlines how context and mobility influence people's motivations to meet new people and presents innovative design concepts for mediating mobile encounters through context-aware social matching systems. Findings from two studies are presented. The first, a survey study (n = 117) explored the concept of contextual rarity of shared user attributes as a measure to improve desirability in mobile social matches. The second, an interview study (n = 58) explored people's motivations to meet others in various contexts. From these studies we derived a set of novel context-aware social matching concepts, including contextual sociability and familiarity as an indicator of opportune social context; contextual engagement as an indicator of opportune personal context; and contextual rarity, oddity, and activity partnering as an indicator of opportune relational context. The findings of these studies establish the importance of different contextual factors and frame the design space of context-aware social matching systems.
The advantage of identifying the influence of sociodemographic profiles on work interruptions among knowledge workers is that it allows researchers to predict which individuals are more likely to be interrupted during their work day. For example, there is a relationship between the use of social networks and the profession (engineers are likely to be interrupted more often); between the use of social networks and marital status (knowledge workers who have no partner have more work interruptions); between social origin and working in public administration, and also the socioeconomic situation and working in humanities-social sciences. In contrast, technological disruptions seem to equally affect married and unmarried workers, although singles tend to be more interrupted by their phones. Administrative workers are also more interrupted by mobile phones. All these data are important because of the great impact of interruptions on productivity. More research is needed to identify other variables of a social nature that predispose to labour disruptions.
The abundance of communication technology, such as the omnipresence of cell phones, has not only increased our ability to reach people anytime anywhere, but also the likelihood of being interrupted. As a result, there is value in understanding how to design technology so that gains are realized from desired interruptions, while the losses from unwanted interruptions are minimized. This paper presents the findings of two complementary field studies, one quantitative and the other qualitative, exploring how the provision of additional incoming cell phone call information impacts people's interruption decision making. These studies were enabled by, Telling Calls, a research application built to enable users to provide and receive information such as what the call is about and the caller's circumstances. The qualitative study showed how the additional call information helps people make informed call handling decisions and acts as an aid to effective conversation. The quantitative study elucidated these findings and showed that reducing the uncertainty about the nature of an incoming call improves people's ability to predict the value of an interruption. By combining these diverse research approaches: 1) theory instantiation through tool building; 2) context-aware surveys; and 3) semi-structured interviews, we were able to gain unique insights into the nature of interruption management in the wild, and related design implications.
At first glance it seems absurd that busy people doing important jobs should want their computers to interrupt them. Interruptions are disruptive and people need to concentrate to make good decisions. However, successful job perfor- mance also frequently depends on people's abilities to (a) constantly monitor their dynamically changing information environments, (b) collaborate and communi- cate with other people in the system, and (c) supervise background autonomous services. These critical abilities can require people to simultaneously query a large set of information sources, continuously monitor for important events, and re- spond to and communicate with other human operators. Automated monitoring
This paper presents an on-going investigation on interruptions in the office caused by face-to-face interactions between knowledge workers. The study aims to identify opportunities for interactive solutions that will support both, the interrupters and the interrupted. The study involves contextual interviews and observations of how administrative assistants manage interruptions.
Reasoning from Sunnafrank's theory of predicted outcome value (POV), this investigation examined how students' assessments of their teachers' accessibility and mentoring abilities influenced their perceptions of the predicted value of engaging in extra class communication (ECC). Student perceptions of teacher physical and social accessibility, along with teacher mentoring abilities (including career, course, and psychosocial), were all substantially and positively related to students' ratings of the POV of ECC. However, only social accessibility, course mentoring, and career mentoring emerged as significant predictors of POV in the regression model. These findings validate POV theory by confirming that students readily assess what they have to gain (or lose) from potential ECC encounters based on what their teachers can offer them. These findings are discussed with regard to understanding how students may be motivated to realize the benefits of ECC.
It is widely mooted that a plausible computational cognitive model should involve both symbolic and connectionist components. However, sound principles for combining these components within a hybrid system are currently lacking; the design of such systems is oftenad hoc. In an attempt to ameliorate this we provide a framework of types of hybrid systems and constraints therein, within which to explore the issues. In particular, we suggest the use of system independent constraints, whose source lies in general considerations about cognitive systems, rather than in particular technological or task-based considerations. We illustrate this through a detailed examination of an interruptibility constraint: handling interruptions is a fundamental facet of cognition in a dynamic world. Aspects of interruptions are delineated, as are their precise expression in symbolic and connectionist systems. We illustrate the interaction of the various constraints from interruptibility in the different types of hybrid systems. The picture that emerges of the relationship between the connectionist and the symbolic within a hybrid system provides for sufficient flexibility and complexity to suggest interesting general implications for cognition, thus vindicating the utility of the framework.
This work investigates the use of workload-aligned task models for predicting opportune moments for interruption. From models for several tasks, we selected boundaries with the lowest (Best) and highest (Worst) mental workload. We compared effects of interrupting primary tasks at these and Random moments on resumption lag, annoyance, and social attribution. Results show that interrupting at the Best moments consistently caused less resumption lag and annoyance, and fostered more social attribution. Results demonstrate that use of workload-aligned models offers a systematic method for predicting opportune moments.
Most current designs of information technology are based on the notion of supporting distinct tasks such as document production, email usage, and voice communication. In this paper we present empirical results that suggest that people organize their work in terms of much larger and thematically connected units of work. We present results of fieldwork observation of information workers in three different roles: analysts, software developers, and managers. We discovered that all of these types of workers experience a high level of discontinuity in the execution of their activities. People average about three minutes on a task and somewhat more than two minutes using any electronic tool or paper document before switching tasks. We introduce the concept of working spheres to explain the inherent way in which individuals conceptualize and organize their basic units of work. People worked in an average of ten different working spheres. Working spheres are also fragmented; people spend about 12 minutes in a working sphere before they switch to another. We argue that design of information technology needs to support people's continual switching between working spheres.
Current systems often create socially awkward interruptions or unduly demand attention because they have no way of knowing if a person is busy and should not be interrupted. Previous work has examined the feasibility of using sensors and statistical models to estimate human interruptibility in an office environment, but left open some questions about the robustness of such an approach. This paper examines several dimensions of robustness in sensor-based statistical models of human interruptibility. We show that real sensors can be constructed with sufficient accuracy to drive the predictive models. We also create statistical models for a much broader group of people than was studied in prior work. Finally, we examine the effects of training data quantity on the accuracy of these models and consider tradeoffs associated with different combinations of sensors. As a whole, our analyses demonstrate that sensor-based statistical models of human interruptibility can provide robust estimates for a variety of office workers in a range of circumstances, and can do so with accuracy as good as or better than people. Integrating these models into systems could support a variety of advances in human computer interaction and computer-mediated communication.
Quiet Calls is a technology allowing mobile telephone users to respond to telephone conversations without talking aloud. QC-Hold, a Quiet Calls prototype, combines three buttons for responding to calls with a PDA/mobile phone unit to silently send pre-recorded audio directly into the phone. This permits a mixed-mode communication where callers in public settings use a quiet means of communication, and other callers experience a voice telephone call. An evaluation of QC-Hold shows that it is easily used and suggests ways in which Quiet Calls offers a new form of communication, extending the choices offered by synchronous phone calling and asynchronous voicemail.
We report tindings from an observational study on the nature of interruptions in the workplace. The results show that in most cases, (64"A), the recipient received some benefit from the interruption. However in just over 40'%. of interruptions the recipient did not resume the work they were doing prior to the interruption. Some implications for time management and communication technology are presented.
Inference and decision making with probabilistic user models may be infeasible on portable devices such as cell phones. We highlight the opportunity for storing and using precomputed inferences about ideal actions for future situations, based on offline learning and reasoning with the user models. As a motivating example, we focus on the use precomputation of call-handling policies for cell phones. The methods hinge on the learning of Bayesian user models for predicting whether users will attend meetings on their calendar and the cost of being interrupted by incoming calls should a meeting be attended.
The paper describes a new theory called a theory of media
synchronicity which proposes that a set of five media capabilities are
important to group work, and that all tasks are composed of two
fundamental communication processes (conveyance and convergence).
Communication effectiveness is influenced by matching the media
capabilities to the needs of the fundamental communication processes,
not aggregate collections of these processes (i.e., tasks) as proposed
by media richness theory. The theory also proposes that the
relationships between communication processes and media capabilities
will vary between established and newly formed groups, and will change
over time
Interest has been growing in opportunities to build and deploy statistical models that can infer a computer user's current interruptability from computer activity and relevant contextual information. We describe a system that intermittently asks users to assess their perceived interruptability during a training phase and that builds decision-theoretic models with the ability to predict the cost of interrupting the user. The models are used at run-time to compute the expected cost of interruptions, providing a mediator for incoming notifications, based on a consideration of a user's current and recent history of computer activity, meeting status, location, time of day, and whether a conversation is detected.
This paper describes a physically embodied and animated user interface to an interactive call handling agent, consisting of a small wireless animatronic device in the form of a squirrel, bunny, or parrot. A software tool creates movement primitives, composes these primitives into complex behaviors, and triggers these behaviors dynamically at state changes in the conversational agent's finite state machine. Gaze and gestural cues from the animatronics alert both the user and co-located third parties of incoming phone calls, and data suggests that such alerting is less intrusive than conventional telephones.
Notification-oriented computer interfaces are growing in importance, as is our under- standing of how users manage interruptions. To gain insights relevant to the design of such interfaces, this study explored telephone call screening as a common example of how people manage technology-driven interruptions in their everyday residential en- vironment. Survey results showed that audio screening is a frequent and regular prac- tice, often used as part of an active, multicue strategy for managing interruptions. Fre- quent screeners estimated knowing more about the call before engaging in social interaction and were more selective when answering. Screening was viewed as an ef- fective means of managing interruptions because screened, unanswered calls were rated as less disruptive of ongoing activities than calls that were answered. These find- ings on how people manage telephone call interruptions provide insights for design- ers of notification systems. First, audio alerts can be highly effective, especially in resi- dential settings. Second, alerts need not be simple to be effective; they can usefully include rich information that clarifies how to respond to the interruption. Finally, in- formative alerts offer a situated alternative to "presence publishing" interfaces.
A person seeking another person's attention is normally able to quickly assess how interruptible the other person currently is. Such assessments allow behavior that we consider natural, socially appropriate, or simply polite. This is in sharp contrast to current computer and communication systems, which are largely unaware of the social situations surrounding their usage and the impact that their actions have on these situations. If systems could model human interruptibility, they could use this information to negotiate interruptions at appropriate times, thus improving human computer interaction.This article presents a series of studies that quantitatively demonstrate that simple sensors can support the construction of models that estimate human interruptibility as well as people do. These models can be constructed without using complex sensors, such as vision-based techniques, and therefore their use in everyday office environments is both practical and affordable. Although currently based on a demographically limited sample, our results indicate a substantial opportunity for future research to validate these results over larger groups of office workers. Our results also motivate the development of systems that use these models to negotiate interruptions at socially appropriate times.
Addressing the need to tailor usability evaluation methods (UEMs) and promote effective reuse of HCI knowledge for computing activities undertaken in divided-attention situations, we present the foundations of a unifying model that can guide evaluation efforts for notification systems. Often implemented as ubiquitous systems or within a small portion of the traditional desktop, notification systems typically deliver information of interest in a parallel, multitasking approach, extraneous or supplemental to a user's attention priority. Such systems represent a difficult challenge to evaluate meaningfully. We introduce a design model of user goals based on blends of three critical parameters---interruption, reaction, and comprehension. Categorization possibilities form a logical, descriptive design space for notification systems, rooted in human information processing theory. This model allows conceptualization of distinct action models for at least eight classes of notification systems, which we describe and analyze with a human information processing model. System classification regions immediately suggest useful empirical and analytical evaluation metrics from related literature. We present a case study that demonstrates how these techniques can assist an evaluator in adapting traditional UEMs for notification and other multitasking systems. We explain why using the design model categorization scheme enabled us to generate evaluation results that are more relevant for the system redesign than the results of the original exploration done by the system's designers.
Context is a poorly used source of information in our computing environments. As a result, we have an impoverished understanding of what context is and how it can be used. In this paper, we provide an operational definition of context and discuss the different ways in which context can be used by context-aware applications. We also present the Context Toolkit, an architecture that supports the building of these context-aware applications. We discuss the features and abstractions in the toolkit that make the task of building applications easier. Finally, we introduce a new abstraction, a situation which we believe will provide additional support to application designers.
The article focuses on the development of a theory. A discussion is presented about steps involved in developing a theory, such as seeing which factors logically should be considered as part of the explanation of the social or individual phenomena of interest. The authors assert that authors developing theories are considering these factors, they should err in favor of including too many factors, recognizing that over time their ideas will be refined. The article presents information about the importance of sensitivity to the competing virtues of parsimony and comprehensiveness.
We are concerned that the IS research community is making the discipline's central identity ambiguous by, all too frequently, under-investigating phenomena intimately associated with IT-based systems and over-investigating phenomena distantly associated ...
aware systemsdetect a very small set of cues, typically quantitative variations of the few dimensions for which theyhave sensors. A (hypothetical) context-aware cell phone might be able to detect that it is motionless andin a dark place with high ambient noise but that is very different from the human awareness of beingin a theatre.If the context-awareness of systems is so different from that of humans, why use the phrase? One answeris that it serves as a useful metaphor. The phrase...
When an automating application needs a user's input or has feedback or other information for that user, it typically engages the user immediately, interrupting the user's current task. To empirically validate why unnecessarily interrupting a user's task should be avoided, we designed an experiment measuring the effects of an interruption on a user's task performance, annoyance, and anxiety. Fifty subjects participated in the experiment. The results demonstrate that an interruption has a disruptive effect on both a user's task performance and emotional state, and that the degree of disruption depends on the user's mental load at the point of interruption. We discuss the implications of these results in terms of building a system to better coordinate interactions between the user and applications competing for that user's attention.
Experience-sampling procedures enable researchers to record the momentary thoughts, feelings, and actions of people in daily life. The authors explain how palmtop computers have expanded the repertoire of experience-sampling techniques and reduced or eliminated some traditional problems with pen-and-paper methods. As a running example, they illustrate the capabilities of the Experience Sampling Program (ESP), their configurable, freely distributable software environment for designing and running experience-sampling studies on Palm Pilots and Windows CE palmtops.
Calls.calm facilitates the ongoing interaction between two people; it works by enabling callers to make a reasonable choice of time and means for communication, by providing them with key information about the callee's situation. Calls.calm is a web-based application, supporting mini-browsers on web-enabled mobile phones and desktop browsers. Calls.calm was deployed for a month within two small work teams. Results from the deployment points to future direction for research and design.
A problem with the location-free nature of cell phones is that callers have difficulty predicting receivers' states, leading to inappropriate calls. One promising solution involves helping callers decide when to interrupt by providing them contextual information about receivers. We tested the effectiveness of different kinds of contextual information by measuring the degree of agreement between receivers' desires and callers' decisions. In a simulation, five groups of participants played the role of ‘Callers’, choosing between making calls or leaving messages, and a sixth group played the role of ‘Receivers’, choosing between receiving calls or receiving messages. Callers were provided different contextual information about Receivers' locations, their cell phones' ringer state, the presence of others, or no information at all. Callers provided with contextual information made significantly more accurate decisions than those without it. Our results suggest that different contextual information generates different kinds of improvements: more appropriate interruptions or better avoidance of inappropriate interruptions. We discuss the results and implications for practice in the light of other important considerations, such as privacy and technological simplicity.
It is proposed that attentional difficulties are central to the experience of boredom. Events which disrupt attention during task performance may contribute to feelings of boredom with the task. Two sources of disruption are explored: external interruptions from the physical environment, and internal interruptions in the form of non-task-related thoughts about current concerns. Study 1 found that external interruptions reduced boredom on a simple task which required little attention, but contrary to expectations, had no impact on reactions to a simple task that did require attention or on reactions to a complex task. Study 2 manipulated internal interruptions via a role-playing methodology, and found that observers attributed greater boredom and less satisfaction to performers who were more frequently interrupted by non-task-related thoughts while at work, especially when these thoughts were about non-urgent concerns. The concepts of internal and external interruptions may be quite useful in understanding variations in the day-to-day experience of work, and in the relationship of non-work to work spheres of life. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
This paper provides a theoretical perspective for dealing with the initial entry stage of interpersonal interaction. The seven axioms and 21 theorems presented suggest a set of research priorities for studying the development of interpersonal relationships. The paper concludes with a discussion of some of the problems to be considered if the theory is to be extended beyond the initial stages of interaction.
This paper proposes the integration of finite domain (FD) cons-traints into a general purpose lazy functional logic programming language by means of a concrete instance of the generic scheme CF LP (D), proposed in [19] for lazy Constraint Functional Logic Programming over a parametrically given constraint domain D. We sketch in this CF LP (FD) language the basis of an efficient computation strategy for solving goals for programs by using defi-nitional trees [1] in order to efficiently control the computation and maintain the good properties shown for needed and demand-driven narrowing strategies [4, 15, 25] in functional logic program-ming. This convenient computation mechanism is obtained as an optimization of the generic Constrained Lazy Narrowing Calculus CLN C(D) presented in [20], which has been proved sound and strongly complete w.r.t. a suitable CF LP (D) semantics, and pro-vides a formal foundation for efficient implementations in existing systems such as Curry [11] and T OY [17]. Finally, we describe the execution of an example implemented in the CF LP (FD) sys-tem called T OY(FD) [9], which is based on the theoretical ideas introduced in this paper, following our computation strategy.
Corporate lawyers, investment bankers, computer programmers, and many other types of workers routinely work seventy-or eighty-hour weeks, putting in extra effort during particularly hectic times (Kidder, 1981; Schor, 1991). These men and women, married and single, are stressed, exhausted, and even dying as a result of frantic schedules (Harris, 1987). They have insufficient time to meet all of the demands on them from work and their lives outside of work. The purpose of this paper is to explore what I refer to as their time famine -their feeling of having too much to do and not enough time to do it -and to question whether this famine must exist. I chose to study a group of software engineers in a high-tech corporation. Over the past three decades, a number of studies have described the nature of engineers' work (e.g., Perrucci and Gerstl, 1969; Ritti, 1971; Brooks, 1982; Zussman, 1985; Whalley, 1986); however, I chose this group not because of the type of work they do but, rather, because of the immense pressure they are under to get their product to market and the time famine they experience as a result. Several recent books have described with awe the fast-paced, high-pressure, crisis-filled environment in which software engineers work (Kidder, 1981; Moody, 1990; Zachary, 1994). These authors portray the engineers as heroes for their willingness to work extremely long hours and celebrate the engineers' intensity and total devotion to work. I, in contrast, explore the engineers' actual use of time at work and the impact their use of time has on other individuals and the groups to which the individuals belong, which reveals the problematic nature of the current way of using time. Ultimately, I therefore challenge the assumption that the current way of using time, which is so destructive to individuals' lives outside of work, is in the corporation's best interest (Perlow, 1995, 1997).
Charles R. Berger (Ph.D. Michigan State University, 1968) is a professor in the Department of Communication Studies, Northwestern University.
This article presents an expansion and reformulation of uncertainty reduction theory. Past research indicates that support for the basic axioms of the uncertainty perspective is weak, especially with regard to initial interaction processes. It is suggested that uncertainty reduction is not the primary concern of individuals during this entry phase, as previously posited. Rather, uncertainty reduction is cast as subordinate to the more central concern of increasing positive relational outcomes. During initial interactions, uncertainty reduction is expected to enhance individuals perceived ability to forecast future relational outcomes. Important initial interaction behaviors and decisions are presumed to follow from the values these forecasted outcomes take. Several major revisions of uncertainty axioms and theorems are generated.
Classic work on interruptions by Zeigarnik showed that tasks that were interrupted were more likely to be recalled after a delay than tasks that were not interrupted. Much of the literature on interruptions has been devoted to examining this effect, although more recently interruptions have been used to choose between competing designs for interfaces to complex devices. However, none of this work looks at what makes some interruptions disruptive and some not. This series of experiments uses a novel computer-based adventure-game methodology to investigate the effects of the length of the interruption, the similarity of the interruption to the main task, and the complexity of processing demanded by the interruption. It is concluded that subjects make use of some form of non-articulatory memory which is not affected by the length of the interruption. It is affected by processing similar material however, and by a complex mentalarithmetic task which makes large demands on working memory.
User attention is a scarce resource, and users are susceptible to interruption overload. Systems do not reason about the effects of interrupting a user during a task sequence. In this study, we measure effects of interrupting a user at different moments within task execution in terms of task performance, emotional state, and social attribution. Task models were developed using event perception techniques, and the resulting models were used to identify interruption timings based on a user's predicted cognitive load. Our results show that different interruption moments have different impacts on user emotional state and positive social attribution, and suggest that a system could enable a user to maintain a high level of awareness while mitigating the disruptive effects of interruption. We discuss implications of these results for the design of an attention manager.
The potential for sensor-enabled mobile devices to proactively present information when and where users need it ranks among the greatest promises of ubiquitous computing. Unfortunately, mobile phones, PDAs, and other computing devices that compete for the user's attention can contribute to interruption irritability and feelings of information overload. Designers of mobile computing interfaces, therefore, require strategies for minimizing the perceived interruption burden of proactively delivered messages. In this work, a context-aware mobile computing device was developed that automatically detects postural and ambulatory activity transitions in real time using wireless accelerometers. This device was used to experimentally measure the receptivity to interruptions delivered at activity transitions relative to those delivered at random times. Messages delivered at activity transitions were found to be better received, thereby suggesting a viable strategy for context-aware message delivery in sensor-enabled mobile computing devices.
For the majority of us, inter-personal communication is an essential part of our daily lives. Instant Messaging, or IM, has been growing in popularity for personal and work- related communication. The low cost of sending a message, combined with the limited awareness provided by current IM systems result in messages often arriving at inconvenient or disruptive times. In a step towards solving this problem, we created statistical models that successfully predict responsiveness to incoming instant messages - simply put: whether the receiver is likely to respond to a message within a certain time period. These models were constructed using a large corpus of real IM interaction collected from 16 participants, including over 90,000 messages. The models we present can predict, with accuracy as high as 90.1%, whether a message sent to begin a new session of communication would get a response within 30 seconds, 1, 2, 5, and 10 minutes. This type of prediction can be used, for example, to drive online-status indicators, or in services aimed at finding potential communicators. Author Keywords Statistical models of human activity, Responsiveness, Interruptibility, Availability, Awareness.
Taming of the Ring is an interactive system that lessens the problems of social disturbance caused by cell phone communication. As cell phone usage levels increase, social disturbance becomes an increasingly important issue. Callers and receivers have a need to discretely handle phone communication in delicate social situations. Early cell phone usage observations led to an interaction model hypothesis. A functional prototype was created to test the concept in the field. Preliminary results indicate that both calling and receiving users want more responsibility and control when placing phone calls, and that two remotely-mediated options, "hold" and "meeting," were enough to fill this communication need in the majority of situations.
Interruption management in technology mediated communication is a key concern in ollaborative work and social environments. Previous empirical and theoretical work in predicting interruptibility predominantly focuses on interruptee's local context namely identifying cognitively and socially intruding contexts such as mental work load levels, activity, place of activity. They largely ignore the relational context namely "who" the interruption is from or "what" it is about. This paper addresses this issue by systematically investigating the use of the various contextual factors in interruption management practices of everyday cell phone use. Analysis of 1201 incoming calls from our experience sampling method study of cell phone use, shows that "who" is calling is used most of the time (87.4%) by individuals to make deliberate call handling decisions (N=834), in contrast to the inter ruptee's current local social (34.9%) or cognitive (43%) contexts. We present implications of these findings for the design of interruption management tools for communication media.
aware systems detect a very small set of cues, typically quantitative variations of the few dimensions for which they have sensors. A (hypothetical) context-aware cell phone might be able to detect that it is motionless and in a dark place with high ambient noise but that is very different from the human awareness of being in a theatre. If the context-awareness of systems is so different from that of humans, why use the phrase? One answer is that it serves as a useful metaphor. The phrase context-aware highlights an attractive and saleable characteristic of such systems: the ability to use sensors to detect and respond to features of their surroundings. From that point it is only a small step to imagining a cell phone that will refuse to ring in the theatre. Unfortunately, what is a small step for the imagination is a giant leap in implementation. 1 While some may choose to talk on their phones at times others may find inappropriate, the problem is not that people are