The Effects on Behaviour and Efficiency by Varying Multitasking Conditions

Recent studies have showed that when computer users are faced with a deferrable task interruption while multitasking, users tend to defer the processing of such an interruption until times of lower workload. Also, users can be tempted to processing a deferrable task interruption at times of higher workload when faced with a forced pause during the primary task. In our experiments, we investigate the influence on multitasking behaviour and efficiency by varying: (1) the difficulty of the interrupting task, (2) forced pauses during the primary task and (3) a penalty for not maintaining information required to do the primary task. We found that the difficulty of the interrupting task has little or no influence on behaviour and efficiency, whereas forced pauses and a time penalty can have different influences on multitasking behaviour and task efficiency.