A Relief from Mental Overload in a Digitalized World: How Context-Sensitive User Interfaces Can Enhance Cognitive Performance

Information overload resulting from the ever faster-growing mass of digital data makes knowledge work more and more complex. Being able to not get distracted and focus on what is currently relevant consumes valuable cognitive resources. Support by intelligent assistance software might alleviate this...

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Published in:International journal of human-computer interaction Vol. 39; no. 1; pp. 140 - 150
Main Authors: Gauselmann, Paula, Runge, Yannick, Jilek, Christian, Frings, Christian, Maus, Heiko, Tempel, Tobias
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Norwood Taylor & Francis 02.01.2023
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc
Subjects:
Classification
Cognition
Cognitive ability
Cognitive load
Cognitive tasks
Context
Digital data
Experiments
Information
Information overload
Information structure
Intelligence
Interfaces
Overloading
Software
Switches
User interfaces
ISSN:1044-7318, 1532-7590, 1044-7318
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Abstract Information overload resulting from the ever faster-growing mass of digital data makes knowledge work more and more complex. Being able to not get distracted and focus on what is currently relevant consumes valuable cognitive resources. Support by intelligent assistance software might alleviate this problem. We report two experiments that addressed this challenge by examining how context-based assistance may provide more available cognitive resources. Experiment 1 focused on work within a single context. Results indicate that external relevance classification can improve memory for content classified as currently more relevant. Experiment 2 focused on switching between two different contexts and shows that cognitive performance after context switches can be enhanced by context-specific structuring and saving a previous task status. Taken together, these results clearly demonstrate that automatic external information structuring by intelligent assistance software can protect knowledge workers from information overload by lightening their cognitive load and, thus, help improve cognitive performance.
AbstractList Information overload resulting from the ever faster-growing mass of digital data makes knowledge work more and more complex. Being able to not get distracted and focus on what is currently relevant consumes valuable cognitive resources. Support by intelligent assistance software might alleviate this problem. We report two experiments that addressed this challenge by examining how context-based assistance may provide more available cognitive resources. Experiment 1 focused on work within a single context. Results indicate that external relevance classification can improve memory for content classified as currently more relevant. Experiment 2 focused on switching between two different contexts and shows that cognitive performance after context switches can be enhanced by context-specific structuring and saving a previous task status. Taken together, these results clearly demonstrate that automatic external information structuring by intelligent assistance software can protect knowledge workers from information overload by lightening their cognitive load and, thus, help improve cognitive performance.
Author Jilek, Christian
Maus, Heiko
Frings, Christian
Tempel, Tobias
Runge, Yannick
Gauselmann, Paula
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  organization: Department of Special Education, Ludwigsburg University of Education
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Snippet Information overload resulting from the ever faster-growing mass of digital data makes knowledge work more and more complex. Being able to not get distracted...
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SubjectTerms Classification
Cognition
Cognitive ability
Cognitive load
Cognitive tasks
Context
Digital data
Experiments
Information
Information overload
Information structure
Intelligence
Interfaces
Overloading
Software
Switches
User interfaces
Title A Relief from Mental Overload in a Digitalized World: How Context-Sensitive User Interfaces Can Enhance Cognitive Performance
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