Examining the qualitative gains of mediating human interruptions during hci

Recent trends in software development directed toward intelligence, distribution, and mobility have brought sophisticated software artifacts that often come with some unwanted side effects; frequent interruptions, for instance. In general, people are less effective when exposed to interruptions. We have created a framework that helps in selecting the most appropriate timing for interruption as a way to mediate human interruptions by the computer. The proposed framework is based on a new Interruption Taxonomy and uses Bayesian Belief Networks for selecting the best timing when mediating interruptions. An empirical study was conducted to empirically measure the qualitative gains of mediating interruptions compared to condition with no interruption control i.e., interruptions were presented immediately at random-generated points. The experimental results suggest that mediated coordination of interruption was effective in decreasing some disruptive effects of interruptions on a socioemotional level, such as: the feelings of frustration, distraction, annoyance and workload.

Coping with Nuisances on the Web

A model of web annoyance coping was constructed based on the Cognitive-Motivational-Relational Theory of Emotion. The proposed model predicts that web users would cope with annoyances through both problem- and emotion-focused strategies. In two focus groups, participants identified nuisances encountered during use of the two websites (Facebook and MySlice), and their reactions to the nuisances as coping strategies. The findings include a web nuisance categorization and empirical evidence to support the proposed model of web annoyance coping. Besides filling a gap in the literature and providing theoretical contributions, the study has practical implications to website designers, marketers and other stakeholders

Choosing Your Moment: Interruptions in Multimedia Annotation.

In a cooperative mixed-initiative system, timely and effective dialogue between the system and user is important to ensure that both sides work towards producing the most effective results, and this is affected by how disruptive any interruptions are as the user completes their primary task. A disruptive interaction means the user may become irritated with the system, or might take longer to deal with the interruption and provide information that the system needs to continue. Disruption is influenced both by the nature of the interaction and when it takes place in the context of the user’s progress through their main task. We describe an experiment based on a prototype cooperative video annotation system designed to explore the impact of interruptions, in the form of questions posed by the system that the user must address. Our findings demonstrate a preference towards questions presented in context with the content of the video, rather than at the natural opportunities presented by transitions in the video. This differs from previous research which concentrates on interruptions in the form of notifications

Exploring How Cognitive Differences Impact Behavior and Performance in The Face of IT Interruptions

While IT interruptions have improved users’ performance in the workplace and everyday life by providing them with timely information, numerous studies have reported their negative effects on users’ performance and behavior. In an attempt to understand how users’ cognitive capabilities affect their performance and behavior in the face of IT interruptions, we propose that the three main executive capabilities of users’ brains (Inhibition, Updating, Shifting) predict distinct performance and behavioral outcomes. The Inhibition capability predicts the likelihood that users get distracted by irrelevant IT interruptions while it improves their performance on the main task. Updating and Shifting capabilities positively impact users’ performance on both the interrupting and the main tasks. An experiment is designed where users are observed while performing a primary task while being interrupted by two types of IT interruptions (relevant versus irrelevant). Potential contributions are discussed

Examining the Effect of Interruptions at Different Breakpoints and Frequencies Within a Task

Research on the effects of interruptions shows that they can be either costly or beneficial depending on which aspects of an interruption are manipulated. One important aspect that contributes to these conflicting results concerns when an interruption occurs. The present study explored how event segmentation theory (EST) can be used to determine optimal moments for an interruption relying on hierarchical task analysis (HTA) to identify coarse and fine event boundaries. Utilizing a 2 X 3 mixed design, undergraduate students completed a trip planning task divided into three task trials. The within-subjects factor was interruption timing, which had three levels: none, coarse breakpoints, and fine breakpoints. The between-subjects factor was interruption frequency, which had two levels: one and three. According to memory for goals theory (MFG), a task representation at a fine breakpoint is large and thus an interruption occurring at this breakpoint increases memory demand and results in performance decrements when compared to an interruption at a coarse breakpoint. In line with this theory, it was hypothesized that interruptions would be more disruptive at fine vs. coarse breakpoints and that as the frequency of interruptions increased, so would the degree of disruption. Last, it was expected that the effects of high frequency interruptions would be more pronounced at fine vs. coarse breakpoints. The dependent measures included resumption lag, task completion time, number of errors, mental workload, and frustration. The findings provided partial support for these predictions. Consistent with MFG theory and EST, participants took longer to resume the primary task and reported higher mental workload and frustration when interruptions occurred at fine breakpoints. Conversely, the effects of interruptions at coarse breakpoints were similar to completing the task without interruption. However, interruption frequency had no effect on performance. In general, these results suggest that the disruptiveness of a single or even a few interruptions is tied to the point within the task hierarchy where it occurs