Previously published
Introduction
Blockchainized Bachelor’s Thesis
Blockchainized Bachelor’s Thesis – Initial Brainstorm
Thesis
Sources
1.Battling Information Overload in the Information Age
2.1.The knowledge-attention-gap: Do we underestimate the problem of information overload in knowledge management? pt.1
2.2.The knowledge-attention-gap: Do we underestimate the problem of information overload in knowledge management? pt. 2
3.Database Research faces the Information Explosion
4.The experience of mobile information overload: struggling between needs and constraints
Article
Feng, Y, & Agosto, DE 2017, 'The experience of mobile information overload: struggling between needs and constraints', Information Research, vol. 22, no. 2, pp. 1-18.
The experience of mobile information overload: struggling between needs and constraints
„Bawden and Robinson (2009, p.182) defined information overload as a state of affairs where an individual's efficiency in using information is hampered by the amount of relevant, and potentially useful, information available to them'“
Even though I will have to go much deeper than that, I’m glad to have such a simple and easy to use definition that can be further extended. I couldn’t put it better myself.
„Furthermore, the information overload research also explored countermeasures, that is, how people reduce the negative effects of information overload. A variety of coping strategies have been identified. Miller (1962) first described the concepts of queuing (delaying information processing to less busy times) and filtering (leaving certain types of information unprocessed) as a coping strategy. Wilson (1995, p. 46) further divided queuing strategy into a four-level information processing strategy based on perceived priority: '( 1) to be dealt with immediately; ( 2) to be followed up when time permits; ( 3) to be noted and filed for future reference in case of need; and (4) to be discarded or ignored. Bawden and Robinson (2009) summarized some other coping strategies such as information avoidance, information withdrawal, filtering and satisficing. Savolainen (2007) studied how people cope with information overload when monitoring information in everyday life. A few of his study participants did not perceive information overload as a problem because they unintentionally applied coping strategies on a regular basis. He concluded that countermeasures for information overload might have already become part of modern life.“
The first part of the quote is basically detailed version of the countermeasures provided in the very first source. Details though always come in handy. Even more relevant is the second part, which names the possible categories of “when to deal with the information”. I personally am going to study myself whether I even categories the information like that (from the first glance I think I do), but I will also make it a part of the questionnaire which will serve backbone of my case study. Studying at least the rough estimates of the amount of information present in every single described processing strategy of my future participants “ordinary day” might help us uncover at the very least the rough estimates of theirs (ours) processing capacities. I think that if I was able to uncover average processing capacity of my participants I would have a perfect spot to start any additional investigation of their informational behaviour.
I would argue against the proclamation that some of the participants were not under the effect of information overload (using their words “did not perceive it as a problem”). Even if they consciously or unconsciously managed to pull off some of the countermeasures without previously knowing about information overload, they would still to an extent be influenced by it. In a preface I already outlined one of my premises of the thesis and that is the fact that information overload influences every single individual in the information society. The fact that someone doesn’t perceive it as a problem only points out to the fact that they do not know what its effects actually might be, or in other words, in which forms those effects can actually “express themselves”. Truth though is that people living in information society might have been already feeling some “negative effects” when connecting to information, therefore they could have already consciously or unconsciously started practicing the countermeasures in their lives.
„When first asked about their experiences with mobile information overload, six of the nine participants stated that they often felt information overload when using their smartphones, while three participants stated that they never or rarely felt mobile information overload.“
This very much also tackles what I was trying to convey in the previous paragraph. People have difficulties “identifying” information overload. The negative effects could very well be just “feeling a bit tired today”. One could easily attribute such a negative effect to for example sleep deprivation, where the true cause of the negative effect could be information overload. The question is not “whether they feel it”, but “where exactly do the negative side effects show off”.
„For example, one participant complained about her frustration with 'too many notifications exploding in the upper portion of the smartphone' from time to time.“
What I find interesting here is that maybe some notifications will not cause and information overload, but “too many” will…will definitely try to address that in my case study.
„Participants also identified limitations of smartphones, such as uncomfortable inputting methods and small screen sizes. These limitations restricted users' ability to process information and created information overload experiences even when relatively small amounts of information were involved.“
From the first glance it didn’t seem to me that the size of the gadget we use in order to access the information may play a significant role. Then I realized that the exact matter I tackled in previous 2 paragraphs actually happened to me. I just did not realize the sheer enormity of situations and reasons where information overload actually can occur. I didn’t connect the inputting methods with information overload. I also didn’t realize that our processing capacity can be negatively influenced by the small-sized screens.
„Our findings indicate that filtering, withdrawing and queuing are three major coping strategies for mobile information overload. Among the three strategies, filtering and withdrawing were dominant.Filtering refers to attempts at weeding out useless information, while withdrawing aims at limiting the volume of information one is exposed to (Savolainen, 2007). All nine participants admitted that they ignored certain notifications that appeared on their smartphones because they were considered unimportant (filtering strategy), and that they customized notification settings to reduce the number of notifications they received (withdrawing strategy).“
This is further elaboration about the coping strategies outlined in the very first quote of this article. As I said, this will definitely become a part of my case study.
„Since filtering and withdrawing were so common, the three participants who claimed not to experience mobile information overload employed these strategies without consciously connecting them to information overload“
This at least proves that they have undisputedly felt information overload prior the introduction of the coping strategies. I would still argue that they experience it even now, even if they don’t feel it.
„We argue that users' needs for controlling the amount of information they receive on smartphones go beyond the function of simple tools such as notification customizations. Mobile technology developers and designers should consider providing additional information flow control mechanisms with increased personalization options to support varying behaviours and preferences“
Yes! This is by the way also something that Steem’s windows into the Blockchain should heed. The information systems really do need to greatly improve overall customization methods in order to fully support personalization to any given information behaviour. Basically the more customization, the better overall chances that information overload will be negated or at least minimized.
“From the open question at the end of each interview, we collected participants' broader comments on the topic of mobile information overload. Several responses suggest that mobile information overload might be the status quo for smartphone users. Participants felt 'being on stand-by' was part of his life, which reflects the general status of information overloaded modern people. Web-enabled mobile device users expand such information overload status into more aspects of their life as they keep their mobile devices nearby nearly all the time.“
It definitely is not status quo only for smartphone users, but I find it positive that people are realizing that they are under the influence of information overload at least in the mobile environment.
From my point of view people tend to be “on stand-by mode” even if they don’t have to (the leisure time spent online), which of course leads to bigger information overload. Sometimes one can’t help it, but developing deeper sense of when it is viable to be on stand-by mode and when it is not could greatly reduce the information overload. Will people want to cut off their online leisure time though?
„However, our study showed that smartphones served as the intersection of various types of communication, and that people conducted both formal and informal communication tasks on their phones. Smartphones have thus become the device that merges information from both work and everyday life“
As I said in the previous paragraph, one sometimes can’t help it and has to stay connected (formal reasons). Once the job for the day is done though, one can simply disconnect. Informal part of the day doesn’t necessarily need to be spent online right? Every individual needs to develop the “understanding of oneself” regarding the information load one can take during one day or one shift of information processing. When the limit is filled, it’s better to disconnect if one doesn’t think that it is worth it to stay connected despite the imminent danger of information overload.
„We detected a constant conflict between needs and constraints when participants were conducting mobile information tasks. This ongoing conflict led to their experience of mobile information overload. It is our view that the struggle between needs and constraints is the essence of mobile information overload.
Smartphones are becoming an increasingly powerful information tool, and they promise their users seemingly endless functionality. This stimulates people's needs for dealing with information right away with the devices at hand. Such needs go beyond factual information needs to the need to complete a variety of information tasks, as well as the need to communicate with other people and the need to be easily reached anywhere or anytime.
Constraints refer to all of the limitations that prevent smartphone users from achieving their information-related goals, such as limited time, constant distractions and limited affordances (e.g. small screen size and difficult text input) of current technologies for completing certain tasks.
Our work suggests that the conflict between the increasing needs for mobile information tasks and various constraints impeding task fulfilment embodies the essence of mobile information overload. To alleviate the negative effects of mobile information overload, measures can be taken on both sides of the conflict. On one side, people's conscious coping strategies help reduce their growing needs, such as controlling the information flow to their mobile devices through filtering, withdrawing and queuing. On the other side, mobile technology developers and designers should aim at removing technological constraints, such as providing better usability to overcome limited screen size or difficult input methods of mobile devices. Note that all the design efforts should derive from and provide support to users' natural coping strategies.“
So basically the needs X constraints is the “understanding of oneself” I described in previous paragraph minus the actual knowledge of one’s processing capacity. I think I have already commented on the customization more than sufficiently from this angle. More angles will come though:P. Anyway this is a nice summary of the article and I felt like it should be shared too.
