Publications
Research from the Center for Alarm Fatigue. All publications were submitted on time. Most were published late.
2025 · Under revision. The revision deadline has been extended twice.
The Snooze Button and the Architecture of Optimism
An examination of snooze button usage as a structural feature of human decision-making rather than a failure of will. The snooze button does not reflect a desire to sleep longer. It reflects a belief, issued every nine minutes, that the situation will be more manageable shortly.
2025 · Working paper. Peer review pending. The peer reviewers have not responded to the review request.
We Sent 10,000 Warnings. This Is What Happened. (Nothing. Nothing Happened.)
A longitudinal analysis of warning issuance and response rates across institutional, domestic, and digital contexts. Findings are consistent with prior literature. The paper was submitted eleven months after the original deadline.
2024 · Proceedings of the 2024 Annual Symposium.
Why Nobody Left the Building: A Case Study in Collective Alarm Disregard
An account and analysis of the 2024 Symposium keynote incident, in which a fire alarm activated during a presentation on alarm fatigue and no attendees evacuated. The incident is discussed as both data and, in the words of the keynote speaker, 'a live demonstration of the phenomenon under discussion.'
2023
The Check Engine Light as Existential Metaphor: Automotive Warning Systems and the Human Capacity for Sustained Denial
An analysis of check engine light non-response across a sample of 4,200 vehicles. Median duration of illumination before action: 47 days. In 23% of cases: never. The paper argues that the check engine light is not a warning system. It is a test of the driver's relationship to uncertainty, and most drivers fail it slowly.
2022
Notification Saturation and the Diminishing Returns of Digital Urgency
Documents the point at which additional notifications produce negative alertness. We believe that point has been passed. We have data.
2021
The Relationship Between Alert Frequency and Alert Response in Enterprise Software Environments
Organizations issuing more than three high-priority alerts per month experienced a 67% reduction in response rate within 18 months. The organizations were notified of these findings. Response rate to our notification: 31%.
2020
Alarm Desensitization in Hospital Settings: A Meta-Analysis
A review of existing literature on clinical alarm fatigue in ICU and acute care settings. The findings are not new. The problem is not new. It is, however, consistent.