Creating a digital tool to promote mental workload management

Project ID: 2228cd1436 (You will need this ID for your application)

Research Theme: Information and Communication Technologies

UCL Lead department: Division of Psychology and Lang Sciences

Department Website

Lead Supervisor: Anna Cox

Project Summary:

Mental workload refers to the cognitive, perceptual, and psychological demands placed on an individual when performing a task or engaging in mental activities. It encompasses the mental effort, attention, and processing capacity required to complete a specific task or handle a particular situation.

Most jobs are now mentally taxing rather than physically strenuous, and people lead busy personal lives too. Balancing work and personal commitments is increasingly challenging due to hybrid work arrangements and the heavy use of digital tools. Encouraging knowledge workers to manage their cognitive workload and work-life balance is crucial for improving productivity, especially in knowledge-based economies like the UK.

Currently available consumer neurotechnologies include those that can track sleep, focus and stress. This project looks beyond the machine learning and engineering challenges of consumer neurotech to the important human-computer interaction questions, and aims to define the space of cognitive personal informatics in all aspects of life (beyond the workplace) to understand the future of cognitive activity-tracking goals and ultimately to positively impact public wellbeing.

The student will be responsible for the research-led development of a user-friendly, accessible digital tool designed specifically for knowledge workers. This tool will enable knowledge workers to reflect upon and effectively manage their mental workload, thereby supporting productivity and wellbeing both at work and in their personal lives.

This will be built following (1) the examination of practices and experiences of knowledge workers, by studying how they currently approach, keep tabs on, and strive to maintain a balance in their mental efforts across various aspects of their lives. (2) the creation of a definition of “Mental Workload”. This definition will be firmly rooted in well-established theories related to achieving a work-life balance.

The student will have a background in Human-Computer Interaction and be supervised by Professor Anna Cox.