This application provides a way to design experiments that study the disruptive effects of interruption. The application is based on a cell phone MIDlet that periodically interrupts users with incoming messages intended to divert their attention from an ongoing activity. The interruptions to the users are controlled by an experimenter who may choose to interrupt the users during specific activities. The application logs data about users’ context as well as information about the users’ responses to the messages (including the level of disruption caused by the interruption). The application may be used to conduct a wide variety of experiments to study human response to interruption. The results of a pilot study using the application, show that random interruptions, that are unrelated to users’ goals and activities, are significantly more disruptive than related interruptions.
InterruptionExperiment.java.txt (Cell Phone MIDlet)
InterruptionServlet.java.txt (Server Application)