research-article

Self-interruption on the computer: a typology of discretionary task interleaving

Authors:

Laura A. DabbishAuthors Info & Claims

CHI '09: Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

April 2009

Pages 1799 - 1808

https://doi.org/10.1145/1518701.1518979

Published: 04 April 2009 Publication History

Abstract

The typical information worker is interrupted every 12 minutes, and half of the time they are interrupting themselves. However, most of the research on interruption in the area of human-computer interaction has focused on understanding and managing interruptions from external sources. Internal interruptions -- user-initiated switches away from a task prior to its completion -- are not well understood. In this paper we describe a qualitative study of self-interruption on the computer. Using a grounded theory approach, we identify seven categories of self-interruptions in computer-related activities. These categories are derived from direct observations of users, and describe the motivation, potential consequences, and benefits associated with each type of self-interruption observed. Our research extends the understanding of the self-interruption phenomenon, and informs the design of systems to support discretionary task interleaving on the computer.

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Cited By

Cambronero-Delgadillo ANachtnebel SKörner CGilchrist IHöfler M(2024)Interruption in visual search: a systematic reviewFrontiers in Psychology10.3389/fpsyg.2024.138444115Online publication date: 14-May-2024
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1384441
Levy ERafaeli SAriel Y(2024)The effects of online interruption pace and richness on task performanceAtlantic Journal of Communication10.1080/15456870.2024.2317434(1-15)Online publication date: 15-Feb-2024
https://doi.org/10.1080/15456870.2024.2317434
Patel SDufresne-Camaro CSakamoto YFan KHasan KIrani P(2023)On the Road to Productivity: Investigating Text-Presentation Techniques and Audio Assistance for Non-Driving Tasks in Conditionally Automated VehiclesProceedings of the 22nd International Conference on Mobile and Ubiquitous Multimedia10.1145/3626705.3627787(122-133)Online publication date: 3-Dec-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3626705.3627787
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Index Terms

Self-interruption on the computer: a typology of discretionary task interleaving
1. Human-centered computing
  1. Human computer interaction (HCI)

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cover image ACM Conferences

CHI '09: Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

April 2009

2426 pages

ISBN:9781605582467

DOI:10.1145/1518701

General Chairs:
Dan R. Olsen
Brigham Young University
,
Richard B. Arthur
Brigham Young University
,
Program Chairs:
Ken Hinckley
Microsoft Research
,
Meredith Ringel Morris
Microsoft Research
,
Scott Hudson
Carnegie Mellon University
,
Saul Greenberg
University of Calgary

Copyright © 2009 ACM.

Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

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Published: 04 April 2009

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April 4 - 9, 2009

MA, Boston, USA

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CHI '09 Paper Acceptance Rate 277 of 1,130 submissions, 25%;

Overall Acceptance Rate 6,199 of 26,314 submissions, 24%

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Cited By

Cambronero-Delgadillo ANachtnebel SKörner CGilchrist IHöfler M(2024)Interruption in visual search: a systematic reviewFrontiers in Psychology10.3389/fpsyg.2024.138444115Online publication date: 14-May-2024
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1384441
Levy ERafaeli SAriel Y(2024)The effects of online interruption pace and richness on task performanceAtlantic Journal of Communication10.1080/15456870.2024.2317434(1-15)Online publication date: 15-Feb-2024
https://doi.org/10.1080/15456870.2024.2317434
Patel SDufresne-Camaro CSakamoto YFan KHasan KIrani P(2023)On the Road to Productivity: Investigating Text-Presentation Techniques and Audio Assistance for Non-Driving Tasks in Conditionally Automated VehiclesProceedings of the 22nd International Conference on Mobile and Ubiquitous Multimedia10.1145/3626705.3627787(122-133)Online publication date: 3-Dec-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3626705.3627787
Ahmad APloetz T(2023)Challenges in Using Skin Conductance Responses for Assessments of Information Worker ProductivityProceedings of the 2023 ACM International Symposium on Wearable Computers10.1145/3594738.3611360(33-38)Online publication date: 8-Oct-2023
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Choi MJordan PTroth A(2023)Workplace Interruptions and Emotional RegulationEmotions During Times of Disruption10.1108/S1746-979120220000018007(121-142)Online publication date: 20-Jan-2023
https://doi.org/10.1108/S1746-979120220000018007
Ramsay DParadiso J(2022)Peripheral Light Cues as a Naturalistic Measure of FocusProceedings of the 2022 ACM International Conference on Interactive Media Experiences10.1145/3505284.3532984(375-380)Online publication date: 21-Jun-2022
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Hirsch PKoch IGrundgeiger T(2022)Task InterruptionsHandbook of Human Multitasking10.1007/978-3-031-04760-2_4(145-188)Online publication date: 13-Sep-2022
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Ahmetoglu YBrumby DCox A(2021)To Plan or Not to Plan? A Mixed-Methods Diary Study Examining When, How and Why Knowledge Work Planning is InaccurateProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/34329214:CSCW3(1-20)Online publication date: 5-Jan-2021
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