Effects of Mediating Notifications Based on Task Load

Abstract

We know that talking or texting while involved in a complex sensorimotor task like driving is dangerous. In such situations, interruptions from notifications can negatively impact primary task performance as well. This paper investigates the impact of attending to such notifications. In our study, participants were engaged in a primary task with varying task loads. Notifications were presented to them aurally and visually, and were mediated relative to the primary task load. Our results show that a) attending to notifications were distracting regardless of modality, b) mediation helped users comprehension of visual notifications, but did not effect their comprehension of audio notifications, and c) even though mediated notifications reduced performance degradation, users did not notice or choose it differentially.