The Effects of Highlighting and Pop-up Interruptions on Task Performance

Abstract

Prior research suggests that interruptions by software components are undesirable and detrimental in many work scenarios. However, there are clear instances where interruptions can conceivably provide a net benefit. For example, interruption is appropriate when reminding a user to accomplish an important task instead of working on lower value activities. This paper examines the pros and cons of interruption and how interruption should occur in the context of an integrated intelligent assistant system. Results from a study and future directions are discussed.

Association of Interruptions With an Increased Risk and Severity of Medication Administration Errors

“…Returning to a disrupted task requires completion of the interrupting task and then regaining the context of the original task. 2,4 In surveys and retrospective accounts of adverse incidents, interruptions have been implicated, 5 yet realworld evidence of the relationship between interruptions and clinical errors is scarce. 6 Clinical environments are highly interruptive, with studies of emergency departments reporting rates of 6 to 15 interruptions per physician per hour.…”

“…However, it is also possible that, if well designed, system features could reduce some of the negative effects of interruptions and support memory recall of interrupted tasks. 4 Future research is needed both to better understand why interruptions occur and to develop strategies 6 that allow staff to make judgments about when it is safe to interrupt, and how to manage interruptions generated by others, in essence making the environment "interrupt resilient." 6,38 Some clinical tasks are more likely to be interrupted than others.…”

“…Conservatively, 450 000 medication errors occur every year, and annual hospital costs due to errors are estimated at $3.5 to $29 billion. [1][2][3][4][5][6] The process of providing a new medication to a hospital patient is complex; 50 to 100 steps occur from the (REPRINTED) ARCH INTERN MED/ VOL 170 (NO. 8), APR 26, 2010…”

Prevalence and determinants of intravenous admixture preparation errors: A prospective observational study in a university hospital

“…Studies report interruptions to occur frequently in the medication administration and preparation process [54][55][56][57] and to be a significant cause of medication errors [26-30, 55, 57]. Interruptions require individuals to switch attention from one task to another, which may have negative impacts on their performance, as they have to regain the context of the original task after completing the interrupted task [58].…”