  This paper evaluates the use of notifications to reduce
aversive-task-procrastination by helping initiate action. Specifically, we
focus on aversion to graded writing tasks. We evaluate software designs
commonly used by behavior change applications, such as goal setting and action
support systems. We conduct a two-phase control trial experiment with 21
college students tasked to write two 3000-word writing assignments (14 students
fully completed the experiment). Participants use a customized text editor
designed to continuously collect writing behavior. The results from the study
reveal that notifications have minimal effect in encouraging users to get
started. They can also increase negative effects on participants. Other
techniques, such as eliminating distraction and showing simple writing
statistics, yield higher satisfaction among participants as they complete the
writing task. Furthermore, the incorporation of text mining decreases aversion
to the task and helps participants overcome writer's block. Finally, we discuss
lessons learned from our evaluation that help quantify the difficulty of
behavior change for writing procrastination, with emphasis on goals for the HCI
community.
