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List:       kde-pim
Subject:    [Kde-pim] NYT Article
From:       Mark Bucciarelli <mark () easymailings ! com>
Date:       2005-10-17 3:09:10
Message-ID: 20051017030910.GB1016 () rabbit
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Did anyone read the NYT article mentioned on slashdot today?

It was a good writeup of some of the research Microsoft is doing into 
measuring how people deal with interuptions during the work day. 

Here is some of the data they presented:

    - each employee spent and average of 11 minutes on any given task 
      before getting interrupted [1]

    - each 11 minute chunk was fragmented into shorter three-minute 
      tasks [1]  

    - each time a worker was distracted from at task it took an avg of 
      25 minutes to return to that task [1]

    - on avg, Microsoft IT employees juggle eight different windows at 
      the same time [2]

    - on avg, they spend barely 20 seconds looking at one window before 
      switching to the next [2]

    - 40% of the time, workers wander off in a new direction when an 
      interruption occurs [3]

People are interrupted a lot and it takes a long time to "get back on 
track" for the task that was interrupted.

They found one really easy fix to improve productivity is to give people 
bigger monitors.

Some interesting notes on UI design:

    When Apple launched it's latest operating system, Tiger, earlier 
    this year, in introduced a feature called Dashboard--a collection of 
    glanceable programs, each of which performs one simple function, 
    like displaying the wather.

This "one simple function" quote reminded me of the original UNIX design 
of small tools that do one job glued together with pipes.

    But for many users, simplicity now trumps power.  Linda Stone, the 
    software executive who has worked alongside the C.E.O.'s of both 
    Microsoft and Apple, argues that we have shifed eras in computing.  
    Now that multitasking is driving us crazy, we treasure technoligies 
    that protect us.

If you can get a copy of the NYT magazine, I recommend reading the 
article.

m

[1] Study by Professor Gloria Mark at U Cal Irvine.  Grad student 
    watched over shoulders of IT workers for 1,000 hours tracking 
    behavior.

[2] Mary Czerwinski, Microsoft.  Informal study of volunteers at MS 
    Research Labs.  She installed software that tracked every mouse 
    move.

[3] No source given in NYT article.

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