The Fragmented Nature of Attentional Resources in Mobile

The Fragmented Nature of Attentional Resources in Mobile HCI Interaction in 4 -Second Bursts IS 698: Mobile HCI Presented by: Marie K. Silverstrim

Authors: Dr. Antti Oulasvirta Education: Ph. D (2006), MA (2001) in Cognitive Science from University of Helsinki Currently: Senior Researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Informatics and the Cluster of Excellence on Multimodal Computing and Interaction in Germany, leads the HCI Group Research interests: HCI, UI Design, Human Performance “My mission is to identify and exploit optima of joint humancomputer performance. ” http: //www. mpi-inf. mpg. de/~oantti/index. html#education

Authors: Dr. Virpi Roto Education: Ph. D (2006) Comp Sci & Eng from Helsinki University of Technology MA (1993) Computer Science from University of Helsinki Currently: Acting Professor at Aalto University, School of Art and Design Research interests: Web browsing on Mobile devices “My mission is to make user experience work more systematic by clarifying the concept of user experience and providing means for evaluating and designing it” http: //www. allaboutux. org/virpiroto

Authors: Tamminen & Kuorelahti Sakari Tamminen Jaana Kuorelahti Affiliations Helsinki Institute for Information Technology HIIT / Aalto University Helsinki University of Technology Affiliations Helsinki University of Technology Nokia Research Center Publications 6 between 2001 -2011 Publications Only this paper

“… being mobile is cognitively costly” “We all have experiences where we have to slow down, to postpone, or to stop interaction with a device entirely because of a cognitively taxing situation” (p. 919) In short: Cognitive resources are limited … and there’s competition for those resources… So when the tasks outnumber the brain power, something gets left behind.

Just existing takes a lot of effort * No action is also a response! Response Action* Setting Adjusts Context Is Defined

Resource Competition Framework: Assumptions �Cognitive systems have modules, or “buckets” �Modules can operate in parallel �BUT! There is an overall limited capacity �And the co-ordination of those modules is serial �Due to parallel modules, can multi-task �Boundaries of modules are fuzzy, pool resources �Not all tasks are created equal, some are harder �Resource sharing is not fair �Tasks that aren’t priorities are cut off

Experiment �Research focused on page load time Needs to happen to complete the task Varies considerably, so needs checking Load time is independent of participant expertise � 28 persons given a mobile phone, tasks, training, and a route �Field trip through Helsinki (1. 5 hrs), recording everything – 4 cameras �Coded results by watching the tapes (168 hrs)

Looked at a lot of this…

… and came up with this.

Results: Attention based on Environment Why is the escalator total half of the lab total?

Results: Attention based on it surprise you the baseline is closer to Situation Does hurrying than waiting? Do you think being part of an experiment skewed the baseline? 15% 45%

So what? Do you employ these strategies? If not, what do you do instead? �If you know the strategies that people use, then can design to optimize the experience. �The strategies: Attention on environment early – know you’ll be waiting a bit, get the lay of the land Brief sampling while waiting– already know the situation, confirm expected changes Tunnel vision on device at moment of task completion Social interaction rules guide behavior in groups

What if we’re doing other stuff besides walking? �NY Times article (thanks Joe!) Discusses studies of “driver ▪ Too little stimulus – bored, don’t pay attention ▪ Too much stimulus – brain is overwhelmed ▪ Just right! All is well. http: //www. nytimes. com/2013/04/07/automobiles/as-workload-overwhelms-cars-are-set-to-intervene. html? pagewanted=all&_r=0 performance workload management” Actually a bell curve for optimal attention stimulus

Any Questions? The End. Thank you!