The Successive Use of Information and Communication Technologies at Work

Past research on information and communication technology (ICT) use has largely assumed that people use only one ICT per task. Yet completing a task often requires a mix of ICTs used over time. ICT succession theory argues that by examining the modalities—for example, auditory, visual, and textual—found in ICTs today, we can predict how to use follow-up or successive ICTs to complete tasks efficiently and effectively. The six propositions that form the core of this theory make predictions linking tasks and types of successive ICT use. Using complementary modalities should help people best accomplish persuasion, status, information, and problem-solving tasks. This strategy should also increase the likelihood that communicators will reach their audience. Using mass media as a precursor, should ICT help people best accomplish information, status, and learning tasks. Using text-capable ICTs as a follow-up strategy is most helpful in persuasion, information, and problem-solving tasks.