Locked-out: investigating the effectiveness of system lockouts to reduce errors in routine tasks

Authors:
Jonathan Back;Duncan P. Brumby;Anna L. Cox
Affiliations:
University College London, London, United Kingdom;University College London, London, United Kingdom;University College London, London, United Kingdom
Venue:
CHI '10 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Year:
2010

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Abstract

While frustrating and innocuous in many settings, errors can have disastrous consequences for the use of safety critical systems and medical devices. This work-in-progress investigates the effectiveness of an enforced lockout period for reducing errors in a routine task. During the lockout period the user can look at, but not interact with the device interface for a period of 10 seconds before they resume the task after an interruption. Results show that this lockout period can reduce sequence errors by up to 64%. Identifying ways to reduce the disruptiveness of interruptions is important for HCI research given that many devices are now used in settings where interruptions are commonplace.