Understanding negotiated anti-malware interruption effects on user decision quality in endpoint security

Anti-malware software must be frequently updated in order to protect the system and the user from attack. Makers of this software must choose between interrupting the user to update immediately or allowing them to update later. In either case, assessing the content of the interruption may still require cognitive investment. However, by allowing the user to negotiate a delayed response to these interruptions, users can instead focus on their work. This paper experimentally examines the effect of immediate and negotiated interruptions on user decision time and decision accuracy in multiple stage tasks. For complex tasks, decision performance is higher when the user can negotiate the onset of and response to interruptions. The option to defer response also results in greater subjective perceptions of control, improved task resumption and reduced feelings of interruption and distraction on the part of the user, even within a short period of time. These findings have practical implications for endpoint security and where there is a need to mitigate the effects of user interruptions from computer-mediated communication in complex task situations.