The information systems literature generally conceptualises information system (IS) workarounds as negative disturbances that need to be avoided. IS design literature has emphasised the need to incorporate user behaviour in emergent IS design. Surprisingly, information systems research has kept the literatures on workarounds and IS design separate and remains silent on how workaround behaviour can inform information system design. In this research, we explore six workarounds in two case organisations and analyse the connections between them. We develop the concept of digital desire paths to describe the process how information system designers improve the system design by observing how users use and work around the system. Digital desire paths offer a novel interpretation of workarounds as input for information systems design and thereby serve as instance of the principle of guided emergence in action design research.

With automated driving advancing, first production models started to incorporate the technology. However, until full autonomy is achieved, drivers always need to stay available to take over control from the car. This requirement has proven challenging: increased levels of automation reduce drivers' situational awareness and driving performance can suffer, especially in the critical moments after take-over. While manual-driving research introduced strategies to direct drivers' attention back to the road, notably interruptions of the non-driving task, the efficacy of these interventions on automated driving remain unclear. To investigate this, 53 participants drove in an automated simulator while performing tasks on an IVIS. With task interruptions, they reported increased situational awareness and showed improved reaction times during take-over, particularly for low-effort tasks (watching movies). Different to manual driving, halting tasks did not suffice; instead, we displayed the driving scene. Results question effects of situational awareness on take-over and offer solutions for manufacturers.

Gaining a better understanding of human–computer interaction in multiple-goal environments, such as driving, is critical as people increasingly use information technology to accomplish multiple tasks simultaneously. Extensive research shows that decision biases can be utilized as effective cues to guide user interaction in single-goal environments. This article is a first step toward understanding the effect of decision biases in multiple-goal environments. This study analyzed data from a field experiment during which a comparison was made between drivers’ decisions on parking lots in a single-goal environment and drivers’ decisions in a multiple-goal environment when being exposed to the default option bias. The article shows that the default option bias is effective in multiple-goal environments. The results have important implications for the design of human–computer interaction in multiple-goal environments.

Designing computer-human interfaces for multiple-goal environments is challenging because people pursue multiple goals with conflicting priorities. Safety-critical environments, such as driving, aggravate the need for a more nuanced understanding of interfaces that may reconcile conflicting tasks. Speech interfaces are prime examples of such interfaces. In this article, we investigate how design variations of an in-vehicle speech interface influence performance of a primary task (driving safely) and a secondary task (e-mailing). In a controlled experiment, we test the performance implications of using single computer-generated Text-To-Speech (TTS) voice and multiple matching TTS voices while users respond to e-mails with varying levels of complexity during driving. Our results indicate that the number of voices used has a significant effect on both driving performance and handling e-mail--related activities. We discuss potentially unintended consequences of making the interface too naturalistic and too engaging for the driver and conclude with theoretical and practical implications.

Advancements in information and communication technology make new IT-based services in the tertiary scope of a car driver (short: automotive services) possible like e-mail and social networking and are highly demanded by customers. However, if not well designed, these services have a potential to dangerously distract drivers from their main driving task and therefore increase the risk of road accidents. Hence, we studied the effects of an in-car e-mail client on drivers' distraction. A low fidelity driving simulator was used to test 32 participants on their degree of distraction while driving. In this paper we present the findings of this evaluation. Our results show that when designing complex automotive services like an e-mail client one of the crucial factors besides the user interface is to keep the provided content simple and well structured thus reducing the amount of driver's distraction considerably.