System with two user studies · 2008
Effects of intelligent notification management on users and their tasks
Iqbal ST, Bailey BP
What it found
A system held notifications until the person reached a natural break in their task. Delivering at breakpoints, instead of immediately, reduced frustration and reaction time. Which kind of breakpoint suited a notification depended on how relevant its content was.
Where the evidence stops
Desktop tasks in a study setting. Detecting breakpoints worked, but telling the types apart was hard.
How it shapes Pursue
Pursue
Supports waiting for a natural pause rather than cutting into the middle of a task.
A design input, not evidence that Pursue works.
Cited in
- 01Should I turn off notifications completely, or batch them?The best evidence favours batching. In a randomized field experiment with 237 people (Duke and Georgetown, 2019), getting notifications in three batches a day made people feel more attentive, productive and in control than the usual stream, while getting none brought few of those benefits and more anxiety and fear of missing out.Interruptions and attention
- 02Why is it so hard to get back to work after an interruption?Because part of your attention stays with the task you left. Sophie Leroy's 2009 experiments at the University of Minnesota call this attention residue: people who switched before finishing did worse on the next task, and a 2008 study by UC Irvine and Humboldt University researchers found interrupted people sped up to compensate, at the cost of more stress and frustration.Interruptions and attention
- 03When is the right moment for a reminder or a nudge?When the person is able to take it in, which changes from moment to moment. In a trial with 1,255 users of a workplace well-being app (Bidargaddi et al., 2018), the same message made people about 4% more likely to use the app in the next day, and about 12% more likely at 12:30 on weekends.Timing and receptivity