Don't Interrupt Me

This paper was about interruptions while in the workplace and how they affect the time it takes to complete the task and the mental strain on the workers. They sought to measure the disruption cost of the interruptions (the additional time to reorient back to an interrupted task or stress) and whether personality factors can affect the disruption costs.

They ran an experiment with 48 German university students. They were assigned a task to answer emails as quickly, correctly (using a fact sheet), and politely as possible. In the first task, they had no interruptions. In the second, they were interrupted by a superior through the phone or IM on related topics (the human resource context). In the third, the interruptions were not related to what they were doing. They were told to attend to these interruptions immediately.

They measured how long it took to complete each set of emails and how long they took to respond to the interruptions. They also measured the subjective workload through a modified NASA Task Load Index, with the addition of stress. They also noted the personality of each of the participants.

The results show that same context interruptions are not more beneficial than different context interruptions, although they may be perceived to be. Interrupted work is performed faster, mainly because the person will work faster, with the same politeness and correctness. However, they experience more stress, higher frustration, more pressure and effort. This could have an effect on system design. Through the results, even 20 minutes of interrupted performance can cause higher stress and frustration in people. Newer systems can keep track of these interruptions and control them over a long period of time, so the person will not be too overloaded.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
review of technical paper:

Mark, Gloria, Daniela Gudith, and Ulrich Klocke. The Cost of Interrupted Work: More Speed and Stress. CHI 2008.