hcistudy
Description
You are invited to be in a research study that measures the effects of intrusive user interfaces on task performance, anxiety, and annoyance levels. We ask that you read this page and ask any questions you may have before agreeing to be in the study.
This study is being conducted by: Piotr D. Adamczyk, current graduate student in the Division of Human Factors and Library and Information Science; and Brian P. Bailey, Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science.
Background Information
The purpose of this study is to measure and compare user task performance, anxiety, and annoyance levels with and without particular types of interruptions when engaged with the user interface The long-term goal of this study is to develop an attention manager that uses measures of cognitive load to determine opportune moments in a user’s task sequence for interruptions to occur. By developing the attention manager, we hope to decrease user frustration and annoyance and increase user productivity for everyday users of technology, as well as attention-critical domains (plant management, air traffic control, etc.).
Procedures
If you agree to be in this study, we would ask you to do the following:
Perform 20 computer-based tasks, five tasks from four task categories. The task categories are web search, document editing, image search, and distance estimation. Examples will be provided.
Rate your experience with the tasks according to a standard scale of difficulty and affective state.
During the tasks, screen capture software will record your screen interactions.
The entire procedure will last about one hour on a single day.
Compensation
If you participate in the study, you will receive $10.
Eligibility
To be eligible to participate, you must be at least 18 years of agge, and need to have at least 1 year of experience editing documents using any common word processor and basic experience using any common graphic design tool.
Risks and Benefits of Being in the Study
The study has no risks to the participant.
The direct benefits to participation are: exposure to a well-defined human-computer interaction experiment.
Confidentiality
The physical and electronic records of this study will be kept private. In any report we might publish, we will not include any information that will make it possible to identify a subject. Records will be kept in a locked file or on a secure system; only researchers will have access to the records. An electronic recording will be made of your screen interaction in this experiment for analysis. The recording will not include any physical part of your body such as your face or hands. Only the named researchers on this consent form will have access to the records. Under no circumstances will records be viewed or loaned to others without your written consent. We will destroy the records about one year from the date of the study. Results will be submitted as part of an academic conference paper or journal article.
Voluntary Nature of the Study
Your decision whether or not to participate in this study will not affect your current or future relations with the University. If you decide to participate, you are free to withdraw from the study at any time without affecting those relationships.