Anti-Distraction tool

By: Danudet Boonyakamol, Enrique Dominguez, James Okada, Wing Lam

Team Introduction

Name: Danudet Boonyakamol Major: CSInterests: Eat and sleep

Name: Enrique DominguezMajor: IxD ‘14Interests: creating and organizing playlists.

Team Introduction

Name: James OkadaMajor: CSInterests: Play the guitar, sleep and surfing

Name: Wing LamMajor: CSEInterests: Bike, cook, watch TV, research

Concept Map

Prioritization Matrix

Substantial? Feasible? Interested?

Mental state Y ? N

Distraction Y ? Y

Time Y N N

Tools Y Y Y

Efficiency Y ? Y

Student N Y Y

Reward N Y N

Group productivity N Y N

Self improvement Y ? Y

Top ProblemsDistraction• Consider the importance of outside influences on how the user

concentrates• Consider the effect of tools on level of distraction/productivity

in a given instance, i.e., Facebook can be a tool or a distraction depending on the context of studying.

Mental State• Significant because mental state affects both productivity and

distraction level at any given time• Mental state affects user’s actions

– If they are dissatisfied with the results, deter them from using the application

Top ProblemsEfficiency• Need a way to measure how their efforts produce different

types of results for productivity• Needs to understand how user’s actions affect efficiency.

– Amount of break time varies from person to person– Amount of time it takes to get back to optimal efficiency varies

from person to personReward• Provide incentive for user to work through their distraction• Can affect the mental state of the user which in turn affects

their productivity

Top Problem: Distraction

We believe that one can achieve an increase in productivity by reducing or limiting ones

distractions.

Reasoning for Distraction

• Distraction is our primary concern.• Our research should help us learn more about

the nature of focusing and efficiency. • From our initial research, focus-aiding software

seems feasible and interesting.

Significance

• Advanced technology has made it easier to multi-task, and often harder to focus.

• Technology continues to advance - we’re finding new ways to stay focused.

• This is especially true in the collegiate/academic setting.

Stakeholders• Students

– Helps students who wishes to do well in school and on tests.– Provides greater efficiency

• Reduce the amount of total work/study time• Provide more time to relief stress• Increase the amount of material learned overall

• Instructors– Most teachers agrees that search engine can be an effective tool for studying/learning– Most also agrees that most technologies are distracting to student.– Helps improve student’s performance.– May improve the rate that materials can be covered due to effective studying.

• Similar principle may be applied to workers/manager relationship in some instances.

• Source: http://mashable.com/2012/11/03/digital-distracted-students/

PrecedentsFreedom - http://macfreedom.com/

– Pros• Available for Mac and PC• Locks you away from internet. Simple to use interface (only option is enter number of minutes and lock)

– Cons• Locks you away from the entire internet (can’t do research)• The lock can be easily override-able• Does not lock applications (ex. Games, IMs) • No motivation to unlock by finishing something

WriteRoom - http://www.hogbaysoftware.com/products/writeroom– Pros

• Available for Mac, PC and iOS• Full screen application for writing• Syncs through dropbox

– Cons• No lock• No extra motivation to get work done in order to unlock

PrecedentsLeechBlock - https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/leechblock/

– Pros• Block any website specified for a specified time• Can block sites within a fixed time daily• Time limits to be on a site each hour or so• Password to override lock

– Cons• No extra motivation to get work done in order to unlock• Does not lock application but just firefox • Great variety of options but confusing interface

AntiSocial – http://anti-social.cc/– Pros

• Automatically locked away from sites such as Facebook, Twitter• Option to specify additional sites to block• Only way to unlock is by rebooting• Simple interface, add sites and turn on are the only options

– Cons• No extra motivation to get work done in order to unlock• Can easily unlock by restarting computer• No option to set the time to lock• Can only lock websites

Precedents Summary

• Very few distraction tools are mobile compatible

• None provide you extra motivation to get work done in order to unlock

• Most tools only block websites but overlook distractions such as games, applications, etc.

• Aspects of prior work that were successful• Simple interface• Timers