Interruption management and office norms: Technology adoption lessons from a product commercialization study

• We investigated the potential adoption of an interruption management technology.
• Almost all participants stated that it was important to have focused time at work.
• Participants felt their colleagues were not respectful of their focused time needs.
• Social norms lag behind the importance placed on uninterrupted time by individuals.
• Need and ease of use alone are insufficient to predict uptake for such technology.

This paper explores factors that influence technology adoption in an office environment, with an emphasis on technology aimed at managing focused and collaborative work by reducing unwelcome interruptions for its users. Based on surveys, focus groups, and usability studies, our findings suggest that workplace social norms play a pivotal role in the adoption and use of interruption management technologies. Our findings display a marked lag of social norms behind the importance placed on uninterrupted time by individuals; even when individuals see the efficacy of the technology, they often misjudge their peers’ attitudes, underestimating their colleagues’ similar needs. In spite of high levels of perceived usefulness reported by our participants, need and ease of use alone were insufficient to predict uptake; when technology has implications for the office behavioral environment, it must be supported by social norms encouraging adoption. Our results further suggest that feedback, which actively engages a product's user, could be crucial to encouraging prolonged use and enhancing the user experience. Although the findings are drawn from a pre-commercialization study of an interruption management technology, they are broadly relevant to technology adoption cases, with special salience for those within the office context.