Interruptions in the workplace: A case study to reduce their effects

Collaboration is an important aspect for virtually all workplace environments. Workplaces often encourage and foster collaboration in a variety of ways with the purpose to collectively focus the group's attention on a specific problem and solve it as quickly and as efficiently as possible. While collaboration is generally viewed as a positive aspect of the workplace, the negative aspect—interruption—cannot be ignored. Interruptions are an important research area of human–computer interaction and with the growth of pervasive or ubiquitous computing on the rise, the number of interruptions we experience on a daily basis is also growing. It is for these reasons that interruption is and will continue to be a key issue in workplaces.This report presents the findings of a qualitative research project which explored interruptions in a mid-size software development company based in Ontario, Canada. The purpose of this research was to identify the types of interruptions (both on- and off-task) that occur during typical office software related activities, explore the contextual characteristics surrounding these interruptions, and identify methodologies that could be used to reduce the cost of interruptions and increase employee effectiveness and satisfaction.

Research highlights▶ We investigate the balance between collaboration and interruptions in a mid-sized software development company. ▶ This research identified the types of interruptions (both on- and off-task) that occur during typical office software related activities. ▶ Senior Developers spend 5.7 h on average on over 120 interruption tasks per day. ▶ We explored the contextual characteristics surrounding these interruptions, and identified methodologies that could be used to reduce the cost of interruptions and increase employee effectiveness and satisfaction.