ABSTRACT
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.
- Adamczyk, P.D. and B.P. Bailey. If Not Now When? The Effects of Interruptions at Various Moments within Task Execution. CHI, 2004, 271--278. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Bailey, B.P., J.A. Konstan and J.V. Carlis. The Effects of Interruptions on Task Performance, Annoyance, and Anxiety in the User Interface. INTERACT, 2001, 593--601.Google Scholar
- Cutrell, E., M. Czerwinski and E. Horvitz. Notification, Disruption and Memory: Effects of Messaging Interruptions on Memory and Performance. INTERACT, 2001, 263--269.Google Scholar
- Czerwinski, M., E. Cutrell and E. Horvitz. Instant Messaging and Interruption: Influence of Task Type on Performance. OZCHI 2000 Conference Proceedings, 2000, 356--361.Google Scholar
- Czerwinski, M., E. Cutrell and E. Horvitz. Instant Messaging: Effects of Relevance and Timing. People and Computers XIV: Proceedings of HCI, 2000, 71--76.Google Scholar
- Hart, S.G. and L.E. Stateland. Development of Nasa-Tlx (Task Load Index): Results of Emperical and Theoretical Research. In Hancock, P.A. and Meshkati, N. (eds.) Human Mental Workload, North-Holland, Amsterdam, 1988, 139--183.Google Scholar
- Horvitz, E. and J. Apacible. Learning and Reasoning About Interruption. Proc. ICMI, 2003. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Iqbal, S.T., P.D. Adamczyk, X.S. Zheng and B.P. Bailey. Towards an Index of Opportunity: Understanding Changes in Mental Workload During Task Execution. CHI, 2005, to appear Google ScholarDigital Library
- Iqbal, S.T., X.S. Zheng and B.P. Bailey. Task Evoked Pupillary Response to Mental Workload in Human-Computer Interaction. CHI, 2004, 1477--1480. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Latorella, K.A. Effects of Modality on Interrupted Flight Deck Performance: Implications for Data Link. Proc. HFES, 1998.Google ScholarCross Ref
- McFarlane, D.C. Coordinating the Interruption of People in Human-Computer Interaction. INTERACT, 1999, 295--303.Google Scholar
- Miyata, Y. and D.A. Norman. The Control of Multiple Activities. In Norman, D.A. and Draper, S.W. (eds.) User Centered System Design: New Perspectives on Human-Computer Interaction, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1986.Google Scholar
- Monk, C.A., D.A. Boehm-Davis and J.G. Trafton. The Attentional Costs of Interrupting Task Performance at Various Stages. Proc. HFES, 2002.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Trafton, J.G., E.M. Altmann, D.P. Brock and F.E. Mintz. Preparing to Resume an Interrupted Task:Effects of Prospective Goal Encoding and Retrospective Rehearsal. Intl. Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 58, 583--603, 2003. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Wickens, C.D. Engineering Psychology and Human Performance. Scott, Foresman & Co, Boston, 1984.Google Scholar
- Zijlstra, F.R.H., R.A. Roe, A.B. Leonora and I. Krediet. Temporal Factors in Mental Work: Effects of Interrupted Activities. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 72, 163--185, 1999.Google ScholarCross Ref
Index Terms
- Investigating the effectiveness of mental workload as a predictor of opportune moments for interruption
Recommendations
Leveraging characteristics of task structure to predict the cost of interruption
CHI '06: Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing SystemsA challenge in building interruption reasoning systems is to compute an accurate cost of interruption (COI). Prior work has used interface events and other cues to predict COI, but ignore characteristics related to the structure of a task. This work ...
Understanding changes in mental workload during execution of goal-directed tasks and its application for interruption management
Notifications can have reduced interruption cost if delivered at moments of lower mental workload during task execution. Cognitive theorists have speculated that these moments occur at subtask boundaries. In this article, we empirically test this ...
Multitasking and monotasking: the effects of mental workload on deferred task interruptions
CHI '10: Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing SystemsRecent research has found that forced interruptions at points of higher mental workload are more disruptive than at points of lower workload. This paper investigates a complementary idea: when users experience deferrable interruptions at points of ...
Comments