Freedom from Distraction Definition

I’m afraid I’m very busy and I’ve currently not got time to check exactly what wording we use when discussing distraction. However, the ISO 9241-112 "Ergonomics of human-system interaction — Part 112: Principles for the presentation of information" standard has now reached the Final Draft International Standard (FDIS) stage and has what I consider to be a very good definition of “Freedom from distraction”. This is:

“Freedom from distraction. Presented information is free from distractions if the information is presented so that required information will be perceived without other presented information interfering with its perception. Distractions from a user´s point of view can result from both distracting events and information overload. Freedom from distraction involves minimizing distractions and avoiding distractions.”

In ETSI we intend to adopt this definition (even though we played no part in its definition) as we believe it describes the concept very well. I believe that it is a very good idea for standards bodies to try to agree on the same definition of common topics – if a good definition exists. Therefore I wonder whether the Coga TF might also consider adopting this definition and adjusting its own new proposals to be compatible with it. Without checking, I would be surprised if there was much difficulty in fitting this definition within the TF’s own proposals.

Mike