Perceptions of Difficulty in an Automation-Supported Task

Technology users are increasingly given discretion around when to engage automated systems, however, these decisions are often suboptimal, inhibiting performance. Prior work has suggested that this may stem from improper estimates of task difficulty. This study investigated where perceived task difficulty diverged from objective task difficulty (accuracy) and its impact on automation use. In a visual search task, participants identified target objects in cluttered images and could opt to use an automated aid on certain trials. Results indicated that participants were sensitive to differences in difficulty, but they used the automation more often when they rated the task as more difficult. With automation present, performance was equivalent between the easy and difficult conditions, but participants rated the difficult condition as harder. This may suggest a disconnect between perceived difficulty and objective performance measures. These results highlight the importance of considering both subjective and objective difficulty when designing automated systems.