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Delayed system response times affect immediate physiology and the dynamics of subsequent button press behavior
Christin Kohrs1, David Hrabal, Nicole Angenstein
1Non-Invasive Brain Imaging, Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology, Magdeburg, Germany.
Psychophysiology
|July 2, 2014
Summary
System response delays impact human-computer interaction, causing physiological changes like increased skin conductance (SC) and altered heart rate (HR). Button press dynamics also reveal user frustration and decision uncertainty.
Area of Science:
- Human-Computer Interaction
- Psychophysiology
- Cognitive Science
Background:
- User expectations in human-computer interaction (HCI) are shaped by prior experiences.
- Deviations from expected system response times can trigger immediate physiological, emotional, and behavioral reactions.
- Understanding these reactions is crucial for designing user-centered systems.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the physiological and behavioral effects of delayed system response times during HCI.
- To quantify user responses to varying system latencies on a trial-by-trial basis.
- To explore the potential of button press dynamics as an indicator of user state.
Main Methods:
- Measuring changes in skin conductance (SC) and heart rate (HR).
- Analyzing the dynamics of button press responses, including force and repetition.
- Conducting experiments with controlled system response delays (0.5, 1, and 2 seconds).
Main Results:
- A significant increase in SC and deceleration of HR were observed across all tested delay conditions.
- Users exhibited altered button press dynamics, applying more force in response to delayed feedback.
- Button press dynamics effectively differentiated between correct and incorrect user decisions.
Conclusions:
- Delayed system response times elicit measurable physiological and behavioral changes in users.
- Button press dynamics provide a sensitive measure of user frustration and can infer decision uncertainty.
- These findings have implications for optimizing system design to improve user experience and performance.
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