Interruption Science (Clive Thompson in NYT)

Great article:

Meet the Life Hackers
Can anyone find a way to make your constantly beeping computer leave you alone and let you work? Inside the nascent field of interruption science.
by Clive Thompson
in the New York Times Magazine, October 16, 2005

Here's an older article that is still worthwhile:

Taking computers to task

"....Recent studies of computer use in offices reveal that much of the time saved by automation is frittered away by software that is unnecessarily difficult, unpredictable and inefficient. Design experts warn that current industry trends toward increasingly complex programs and new, untested ways of presenting information could do more harm than good--and will almost certainly do less good than advertised. The road to improved productivity, they argue, heads in a very different direction."

by Gibbs, W. Wayt

in Scientific American, Jul97, Vol. 277 Issue 1
(licensed resource; may require authentication)
------

also:
Driven to distraction by technology

By Ina Fried
Staff Writer, CNET News.com

Published: July 21, 2005, 4:00 AM PDT

The typical office worker is interrupted every three minutes by a phone call, e-mail, instant message or other distraction. The problem is that it takes about eight uninterrupted minutes for our brains to get into a really creative state.

The result, says Carl Honore, journalist and author of "In Praise of Slowness," is a situation where the digital communications that were supposed to make working lives run more smoothly are actually preventing people from getting critical tasks accomplished......