Precision Tracking of Digital Activity in situ: Patterns in Attention Focus, Mood and Stress

Speaker: Gloria Mark , UC Irvine

Date: Friday, December 12, 2014

Time: 1:00 PM to 2:15 PM Note: all times are in the Eastern Time Zone

Refreshments: 2:00 PM

Public: Yes

Location: 32-G575

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Host: David Karger, MIT

Contact: Rebecca Yadegar, ryadegar@csail.mit.edu

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Reminders to: seminars@csail.mit.edu, csail-related@lists.csail.mit.edu

Reminder Subject: TALK: Gloria Mark, Precision Tracking of Digital Activity in situ: Patterns in Attention Focus, Mood and Stress

Abstract:
The recent revolution in sensor technology is enabling new ways to measure human behavior in mobile contexts with precision. My goal is to understand digital technology use in situ, and how it affects human mood and behavior. Using a mixed-methods approach, I study how digital media use is related to multitasking, stress, mood, and focus. I will present data from 85 information workers tracked in the workplace for multiple days, and from 124 Millennials tracked for seven days, all waking hours. We collected this data using sensors and biosensors, SenseCams, experience sampling, and repeated surveys. This approach enables the answer to numerous questions, such as: To what extent do people multitask and self-interrupt? How do online and offline social interactions affect mood? What activities do people carry out when focused and bored throughout their workday? How can we explain what causes workplace distractions? What effects does email use have on focus, stress and mood? What factors are associated with productivity? I will present answers to these questions, and will discuss how these results can inform the design of computer technologies and practices that could be used to improve people's mood, focus and stress management.

BIO
Gloria Mark is a Professor in the Department of Informatics, University of California, Irvine. Her research focuses on the studying the impact of digital technology in real-world contexts. Her current projects include studying precision tracking of information workers' digital media use and mood, the use of ICTs in environments disrupted by conflict, and workplace social media. She received her PhD in Psychology from Columbia University. Prior to joining UCI in 2000, she worked at the German National Research Center for Information Technology (GMD, now Fraunhofer Institute) and has been a visiting researcher at Microsoft Research, IBM, Boeing, and The MIT Media Lab. In 2006 she received a Fulbright scholarship where she worked at the Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany. She has published in top conferences and journals in the fields of Human-Computer Interaction and Computer-Supported Cooperative Work. She has been the technical program chair for the ACM CSCW’12, ACM CSCW'06, and ACM GROUP’05 conferences, and is on the editorial board of ACM TOCHI and Human-Computer Interaction. Her work has also appeared in the popular press such as The New York Times, the BBC, NPR, Time, and The Wall Street Journal.

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Created by Rebecca Yadegar at Monday, December 08, 2014 at 6:00 PM.