Designing IS for Personal Productivity

Designing Information Systems for Personal Productivity

A research project investigating how information systems can improve knowledge workers’ productivity and well-being by integrating insights from psychology and neuroscience.

The project explores how digital technologies can better support modern knowledge work while mitigating challenges such as information overload, work intensification, and declining well-being.

Overview

Motivation

The increasing digitalization of work and the transition toward an information and service economy have led to a growing prevalence of knowledge-intensive work. Knowledge workers are expected to process large amounts of information, make complex decisions, collaborate across digital environments, and continuously adapt to changing requirements.

While information and communication technologies provide valuable support for these activities, they also create new challenges:

  • Information overload caused by e-mails, messaging platforms, social media, and digital collaboration tools.
  • Increasing work intensification and constant connectivity.
  • Reduced ability to set and attain goals.
  • Negative effects on well-being, stress levels, and long-term productivity.
  • Limited consideration of psychological and neuroscientific findings in the design of workplace technologies.

Recent advances in psychology and neuroscience have substantially improved our understanding of attention, motivation, creativity, learning, decision-making, and cognitive performance. However, these insights have rarely been translated into practical design principles for information systems.

Expected Contribution

The project seeks to bridge the gap between behavioral science and information systems design. By developing and evaluating novel technology-based interventions, the project aims to contribute to both research and practice. Key outcomes include:

Understanding Productivity Challenges:
A systematic analysis of the factors that hinder productive and healthy knowledge work.

Evidence-Based Design Principles:
Integration of psychological and neuroscientific findings into actionable recommendations for information systems design.

Digital Productivity Platform:
Development of a software platform for implementing and testing productivity-enhancing interventions.

Technology-Based Interventions:
Design and evaluation of digital tools that support focus, motivation, well-being, and effective knowledge work.

Validated Research Findings:
Empirical assessment through experiments, surveys, and field studies to determine the effectiveness of proposed solutions.

Integrated Productivity Framework:
Development of a comprehensive framework connecting productivity, well-being, and information systems design.

The overarching goal is to enable sustainable knowledge work that improves both individual performance and employee well-being.

Research Approach

The project follows a design-oriented and empirical research approach that combines insights from multiple disciplines.

The methodological process includes:

  • Analysis of current challenges experienced by knowledge workers.
  • Review and synthesis of relevant psychological and neuroscientific literature.
  • Development of a software platform for implementing and testing interventions.
  • Design of digital tools and productivity-support mechanisms.
  • Experimental and field-based evaluation of proposed solutions.
  • Integration of findings into a holistic framework for personal productivity and well-being.

This approach combines scientific rigor with practical applicability and supports the development of evidence-based digital workplace solutions.

Project Features

Human-Centered Productivity Design

Information systems designed around human cognitive capabilities and limitations rather than purely technological possibilities.

Psychology- and Neuroscience-Informed Solutions

Translation of behavioral science findings into actionable software design principles.

Productivity and Well-Being Integration

Simultaneous consideration of performance, engagement, and individual well-being.

Experimental Validation

Systematic testing of interventions through experiments, surveys, and real-world field studies.

Duration

2022 – ongoing

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11.    Karr-Wisniewski, P., & Lu, Y. (2010). When more is too much: Operationalizing technology overload and exploring its impact on knowledge worker productivity. Computers in Human Behavior, 26(5), 1061-1072.
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13.    Óskarsdóttir, H. G., Oddsson, G. V., Sturluson, J. Þ., & Sæmundsson, R. J. (2022). Towards a holistic framework of knowledge worker productivity. Administrative Sciences, 12(2), 50.
14.    Soto, M., Satterfield, C., Fritz, T., Murphy, G. C., Shepherd, D. C., & Kraft, N. (2021). Observing and predicting knowledge worker stress, focus and awakeness in the wild. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 146, 102560.

Team