TY - GEN

T1 - Task Interruption in Software Development Projects: What Makes some Interruptions More Disruptive than Others?

AU - Abad, Zahra Shakeri Hossein

AU - Karras, Oliver

AU - Schneider, Kurt

AU - Barker, Ken

AU - Bauer, Mike

PY - 2018/6/28

Y1 - 2018/6/28

N2 - Multitasking has always been an inherent part of software development and is known as the primary source of interruptions due to task switching in software development teams. Developing soffware involves a mix of analytical and creative work, and requires a significant load on brain functions, such as working memory and decision making. Of us, task switching in the context of software development imposes a cognitive load that causes software developers to lose focus and concentration while working thereby taking a toll on productivity. To investigate the disruptiveness of task switching and interruptions in software development projects, and to understand the reasons for and perceptions of the disruptiveness of task switching we used a mixed-methods approach including a longitudinal data analysis on 4,910 recorded tasks of 17 professional software developers, and a survey of 132 software developers. We found that, compared to task-specific factors (e.g. priority, level, and temporal stage), contextual factors such as interruption type (e.g. self/external), time of day, and task type and context are a more potent determinant of task switching disruptiveness in software development tasks. Furthermore, while most survey respondents believe external interruptions are more disruptive than self-interruptions, the results of our retrospective analysis reveals otherwise. We found that self-interruptions (i.e. voluntary task switchings) are more disruptive than external interruptions and have a negative effect on the performance of the interrupted tasks. Finally, we use the results of both studies to provide a set of comparative vulnerability and interaction patterns which can be used as a mean to guide decision-making and forecasting the consequences of task switching in software development teams.

AB - Multitasking has always been an inherent part of software development and is known as the primary source of interruptions due to task switching in software development teams. Developing soffware involves a mix of analytical and creative work, and requires a significant load on brain functions, such as working memory and decision making. Of us, task switching in the context of software development imposes a cognitive load that causes software developers to lose focus and concentration while working thereby taking a toll on productivity. To investigate the disruptiveness of task switching and interruptions in software development projects, and to understand the reasons for and perceptions of the disruptiveness of task switching we used a mixed-methods approach including a longitudinal data analysis on 4,910 recorded tasks of 17 professional software developers, and a survey of 132 software developers. We found that, compared to task-specific factors (e.g. priority, level, and temporal stage), contextual factors such as interruption type (e.g. self/external), time of day, and task type and context are a more potent determinant of task switching disruptiveness in software development tasks. Furthermore, while most survey respondents believe external interruptions are more disruptive than self-interruptions, the results of our retrospective analysis reveals otherwise. We found that self-interruptions (i.e. voluntary task switchings) are more disruptive than external interruptions and have a negative effect on the performance of the interrupted tasks. Finally, we use the results of both studies to provide a set of comparative vulnerability and interaction patterns which can be used as a mean to guide decision-making and forecasting the consequences of task switching in software development teams.

KW - Empirical software engineering

KW - Multitasking

KW - Productivity

KW - Retrospective analysis

KW - Task interruption

KW - Task switching

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85053664950&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.48550/arXiv.1805.05508

DO - 10.48550/arXiv.1805.05508

M3 - Conference contribution

SN - 9781450364034

T3 - ACM International Conference Proceeding Series

SP - 122

EP - 132

BT - Proceedings of the 22nd International Conference on Evaluation and Assessment in Software Engineering 2018, EASE 2018

ER -