Exploring the Effects of Hardware Performance, Application Design and Cognitive Demands on User Productivity and Perceptions

We report on an investigation of the effects of hardware performance, application design, and cognitive demands on user productivity and perceptions. This investigation focuses on clerical tasks typical of those activities that many lower level organization workers encounter. This was accomplished by engaging one hundred seventy-five representative participants in a field-based experiment. Participants worked one eight-hour shift and completed a variety of realistic tasks involving the creation and modification of documents using Microsoft® Word, Excel, and PowerPoint®. Motivation was ensured through the use of a quantity/quality-based financial incentive. An analysis of both task-completion times and error rates revealed significant effects for cognitive demands, with more demanding tasks resulting in 701 E. Chocolate Avenue, Suite 200, Hershey PA 17033-1240, USA Tel: 717/533-8845; Fax 717/533-8661; URL-http://www.idea-group.com ITB9996 IDEA GROUP PUBLISHING This chapter appears in the book, Advanced Topics in End User Computing, Volume 3, edited by M. Adam Mahmood. Copyright © 2004, Idea Group Inc. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of Idea Group Inc. is prohibited.