Snookered by an interruption? Use a cue

When routine tasks are interrupted, erroneous slips become more likely. Expertise is no defence against these kinds of errors but visual hints can alleviate such negative effects in computer interfaces. We compared previous-action cueing with next-action cueing, measuring the effects on error rate, and found that both approaches were statistically equivalent in helping to mitigate the disruptive effects of interruptions. Following an interruption, a cue should be displayed highlighting the last action performed by the user – a trivial operation for software applications.