Dealing with Interruptions can be Complex, but does Interruption Complexity Matter: A Mental Resources Approach to Quantifying Disruptions

Cades, David M.; Werner, Nicole E.; Boehm‐Davis, Deborah A.; Trafton, J. Gregory; Monk, Christopher A.

doi:10.1177/154193120805200442

Cited by 30 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…In addition, more complex interruptions (e.g., solving 17+36 as compared to 2+3; [23]) also lead to longer resumption times [13,14,20,23,35]. Both effects were nicely demonstrated by Monk et al [35].…”

Section: What Makes Interruptions Disruptive?mentioning

confidence: 83%

“…Previous research has focused on factors that make interruptions disruptive [e.g., interrupting task complexity, duration; 13,14,18,20,22,23,34,35,46], on when users can best be interrupted [1,25,27,32], as well as on how users manage interruptions themselves [7,19,29,30,42,45,46]. To improve our understanding of interruptions, the results of these studies should be integrated into a cognitive theory.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

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What Makes Interruptions Disruptive?

Borst

Taatgen

Rijn

2015

Proceedings of the 33rd Annual ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

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In this paper we present a computational cognitive model of task interruption and resumption, focusing on the effects of the problem state bottleneck. Previous studies have shown that the disruptiveness of interruptions is for an important part determined by three factors: interruption duration, interrupting-task complexity, and moment of interruption. However, an integrated theory of these effects is still missing. Based on previous research into multitasking, we propose a first step towards such a theory in the form of a process model that attributes these effects to problem state requirements of both the interrupted and the interrupting task. Subsequently, we tested two predictions of this model in two experiments. The experiments confirmed that problem state requirements are an important predictor for the disruptiveness of interruptions. This suggests that interfaces should be designed to a) interrupt users at lowproblem state moments and b) maintain the problem state for the user when interrupted.

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Section: What Makes Interruptions Disruptive?mentioning

confidence: 83%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

What Makes Interruptions Disruptive?

Borst

Taatgen

Rijn

2015

Proceedings of the 33rd Annual ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

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show abstract

“…From an objective perspective, task difficulty can be determined by task designers based on an estimation of the amount of mental resources required to complete a task. In contrast, subjective task difficulty refers to the perception that some tasks seem harder due to an intuitive sense of difficulty (Cades et al, 2008).…”

Section: Mandatory Multitaskingmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effects of Task Difficulty and Multitasking on Performance

Adler

Benbunan‐Fich

2014

Interact. Comput.

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Multitasking is prevalent during computer-mediated work. Users tend to switch between multiple ongoing computer-based tasks either due to a personal decision to break from the current task (self-interruption) or due to an external interruption, such as an electronic notification. To examine how different types of multitasking, along with subjective task difficulty, influence performance, we conducted a controlled experiment using a custom-developed multitasking environment. A total of 636 subjects were randomly assigned into one of the three conditions: discretionary, where they were allowed to decide when and how often to switch tasks; mandatory, where they were forced to switch tasks at specific times; and sequential, where they had to perform tasks in sequence, without switching. The experimental environment featured a primary problem-solving task and five secondary tasks. The results show that when the primary task was considered difficult, subjects forced to multitask had significantly lower performance compared with not only the subjects who did not multitask but also the subjects who were able to multitask at their discretion. Conversely, when the primary task was considered easy, subjects forced to multitask had significantly higher performance than both the subjects who did not multitask and the subjects who multitasked at their discretion. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS • The study compares the effects of different types of multitasking and subjective task difficulty with an experiment. • It uses a custom-developed multitasking environment with three conditions. • Compares performance scores of mandatory, discretionary and no multitasking. • Those forced to multitask performed the worst when the task was deemed difficult. • However, when the task was deemed easy, those forced to multitask performed the best.

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“…In most instances interruptions have been found to be disruptive, increasing time spent on a task and leading to errors in completing tasks. Studies also iden -tify some of the characteristics that make interruptions disruptive such as the interruption complexity [15], similarity of an interrupting task to the primary task [16] and the availability of retrieval cues in the primary task [17]. While this literature provides a useful starting point for examining interruptions in healthcare, the disparity in tasks and environmental context make it necessary to investigate the specific consequences of interruptions to clinical work and their impact on patient safety.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Challenges in Measuring the Impact of Interruption on Patient Safety and Workflow Outcomes

Magrabi¹,

Li²,

Dunn³

et al. 2011

Methods Inf Med

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SummaryObjective: To examine the problem of studying interruption in healthcare. Methods: Review of the interruption literature from psychology, human-computer interaction; experimental studies of electronic prescribing and error behaviour; observational studies in emergency and intensive care. Results: Primary task and interruption variables which contribute to the outcomes of an interruption include the type of task (primary and interrupting task); point of interruption; duration of interruption; similarity of interruptive task to primary task; modality of interruption; environmental cues; and interruption

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Dealing with Interruptions can be Complex, but does Interruption Complexity Matter: A Mental Resources Approach to Quantifying Disruptions

Cited by 30 publications

References 23 publications

What Makes Interruptions Disruptive?

What Makes Interruptions Disruptive?

The Effects of Task Difficulty and Multitasking on Performance

Challenges in Measuring the Impact of Interruption on Patient Safety and Workflow Outcomes

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