Ethnographic Study of On-Hold Caller Multitasking Behavior

Su, Andy; Kortum, Phil

doi:10.1518/107118109x12524443347599

“…The cognitive workload that callers experience while on hold is important to understand because of the way most callers wait on hold in the real world. Recent studies have shown that most callers do not wait passively while on hold, but rather engage in a wide variety of secondary tasks while they wait (Su & Kortum, 2009. Because they are engaged in these secondary tasks, it is important that the stimulus that is used to fill the hold time has a relatively low cognitive demand so as not to interfere with the secondary task.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is known that a majority of callers usually engage in some sort of secondary activity while they are on telephone hold Su & Kortum. 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mental Workload Measures of Auditory Stimuli Heard during Periods of Waiting

Kortum

¹

,

Peres

²

,

Stallmann

³

2010

Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual

0

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A study of 105 university students examined whether the length or type of Auditory Progress Bar (APB) used in a telephone on-hold situation had an impact on users' subjective mental workload. Auditory cues can be designed into APBs to provide information to the caller regarding the approximate duration of the hold time. Previous research has found that the majority of callers tend to multi-task during on-hold situations. Thus the design of any stimuli presented while the caller is on hold should take this into account. To do this, it is important for designers to understand how APB design might impact callers' mental workloads. In the current study, participants experienced one of three APB design types (cello, sine, electronic) in four different lengths (30, 60, 120 and 240 seconds). An on-hold call center experience was simulated using a computer-generated interactive voice response system and workload data was collected using the NASA-TLX. The results of this study indicate that the type of APB does not appear to have a significant impact on callers' assessment of mental workload, but that the duration of the stimuli does.

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“…Information Science Multitask Su & Kortum (2009) The purpose of this study was to provide a rich description of on-hold caller multitasking behavior. The goal is to produce objectively verified secondary tasks representative of typical caller behavior.…”

Section: The Potential Of the Interpretive Paradigm Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Research Methodologies for Multitasking Studies

Lin

¹

,

Cranton

²

,

Lee

³

2015

Handbook of Research on Scholarly Publishing and Research Methods

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The research on multitasking is scattered across disciplines, and the definitions of multitasking vary according to the discipline. As a result, the research is not coherent nor consistent in the approaches taken to understanding this phenomenon. In this chapter, the authors review studies on multitasking in different disciplines with a focus on the research methodologies used. The three main research paradigms (empirical-analytical, interpretive, and critical) are used as a framework to understand the nature of the research. The strengths and weaknesses of the research in each of the paradigms are examined, and suggestions are made for utilizing different research methodologies to bring clarity to the research in this field. Such an endeavour will help to build interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research and help guide future research and theory building.

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Research Methodologies for Multitasking Studies

Lin

¹

,

Cranton

²

,

Lee

³

2019

Scholarly Ethics and Publishing

0

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The research on multitasking is scattered across disciplines, and the definitions of multitasking vary according to the discipline. As a result, the research is not coherent nor consistent in the approaches taken to understanding this phenomenon. In this chapter, the authors review studies on multitasking in different disciplines with a focus on the research methodologies used. The three main research paradigms (empirical-analytical, interpretive, and critical) are used as a framework to understand the nature of the research. The strengths and weaknesses of the research in each of the paradigms are examined, and suggestions are made for utilizing different research methodologies to bring clarity to the research in this field. Such an endeavour will help to build interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research and help guide future research and theory building.

show abstract

Ethnographic Study of On-Hold Caller Multitasking Behavior

Cited by 4 publications

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Mental Workload Measures of Auditory Stimuli Heard during Periods of Waiting

Mental Workload Measures of Auditory Stimuli Heard during Periods of Waiting

Research Methodologies for Multitasking Studies

Research Methodologies for Multitasking Studies

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