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Micro Breaks, Macro Breaks
A security guard settling into another hour seated in front of a closed store in South Delhi (above), motorcyclist checking text messages whilst smoking a cigarette in Tokyo (below) and a bus stop indicating how long before the next bus arrives, Brighton (end photo).
Micro and macro breaks are the time we have between defined tasks: waiting for a bus to arrive; for a traffic light to change; for friends to turn up; to smoke a cigarette (assuming the act of smoking is not seen as a primary task). If you design mobile devices, applications or services you should be interested in micro and macro breaks - as a commonly carried mobile essential there is a fair chance that the mobile phone will be used during that break.
Not all all breaks are equal: some are planned, some not; the ability to predict how long a break will last affects how the time is used and whether tasks are started; some we have degree of control over how long they last; and the contexts in which breaks occur can vary considerably - just think of the range of situations you find yourself in.
What are the characteristics of micro or macro breaks? How do they differ between cultures? For that matter, how does the pace of life, the perception of time and how it 'should' be filled differ between cultures? How long do these breaks last compared the time it takes to complete a task such as sending a text message, locating information on a mobile web site or to go to a more topical application - tuning into signal for a mobile TV station?
And why the bus stop? Quite simply - knowing when the break will finish affects what tasks will be started.
Writing from Tokyo | April 19, 2006 | Permalink
Comments
I have been thinking about this a lot, thanks for great entry!
I would add a concept of "interruptability" to this conceptual mess. I mean that every task is not equal. Sending a SMS is not very interrutable, since half-written SMS that has not been send is not very useful; it has to be finished. Same goes for watching movies; you really want to see the ending too.
On the other hand, some tasks are very interruptable. Reading messages, books or comics for example. Althought they need to be finished, there is no harm in interrupting them.
Posted by: Juha at April 19, 2006 8:00 PM