Interruption Science

The interdisciplinary study of how interruptions affect cognitive performance, emotional state, and task completion. Research in interruption science shows that unexpected interruptions during high‑focus work increase error rates, stress, and the time required to resume the original task. An upsell pop‑up that appears while a user is in a flow state is, neurologically, an interruption, and the user’s response is defensive dismissal — not because the offer is bad but because the brain prioritizes the continuity of the primary task. Interruption science provides the empirical basis for suppressing upsell prompts during active work and presenting them at task boundaries, where the interruption cost is near zero.

Example: A graphic design tool that waits until the user has exported a design before suggesting an upgrade is respecting the findings of interruption science.