Beyond the Wait: Enhancing User Experience Through Psychological Insights

Strategies to Optimise Loading Times

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In the digital age, our interactions with technology—be it through smartphones, computers, or wearables—are fundamental to our daily lives. One key element that shapes the User Experience (UX) with these devices, and notably their applications, is the loading time – that’s the time it takes to download and display an individual web page or application screen. Delays can not only degrade the user experience, but also damage customer trust and satisfaction (Laghari et al., 2020).

In this article, we’re looking into the psychology research on user perceptions during loading times and some suggestions from recent studies to help us enhance the waiting experience.

Wait Times And UX

For years, researchers have explored how to optimise the user experience during inevitable waiting periods for content to load on computers and mobile devices. Several influential theories and studies have shaped our understanding of perceived wait times.

Providing visual feedback during loading times has been shown to improve the overall user experience (Nah, 2004). This is consistent with the attention-gate model (Block & Zakay, 1996), which proposes that when attention is fully focused on a primary task, fewer cognitive resources are devoted to monitoring the passage of time, leading to shorter perceived durations. This suggests that introducing easy secondary tasks or visual distractions during waits can reduce the felt duration.

Research on traditional progress indicators has found linear bars are preferred over cyclical ones, while video progress updates minimise perceived duration and provide the best experience (Amer & Johnson, 2014). Counterintuitively, passive animation loading screens have been shown to increase perceived wait times and reduce perceived speed/satisfaction compared to a blank screen (Zhao et al., 2017).

As an alternative approach, interactive loading experiences containing simple mini-games or object manipulations have emerged to engage users during long waits. An example of this is my favourite Dinosaur Game developed by Google and built into the Google Chrome web browser that appears when the connection is interrupted until it’s restored. Hohenstein et al. (2016) found interactive animations reduced perceived wait times and increased satisfaction versus progress bars or passive animations.

An example of an interactive loading experience by Google

However, trying to fill in waiting times with other tasks and visual distractors isn’t always the optimal approach. Research has shown that overly complex stimuli may have the opposite effect by overloading limited mental resources (Pruyn & Smidts, 1998). This can make waits seem even longer.

Colour is also known to influence human emotions and behaviour. It has three key perceptual dimensions: hue, brightness, and saturation. Research shows these dimensions and their interactions can impact people's emotional states (Wilms & Oberfeld, 2018), which can in turn affect time perception. Studies have found that different colours are associated with different emotional and physiological responses. Red, in particular, is significantly more physiologically arousing than blue or yellow, and green is more arousing than blue (Jacobs & Hustmyer, 1974). When it comes to perceived duration after exposure to difference colours findings are less consistent.

New Insights

A recent study by Cheng et al. (2023) attempted to further understand the waiting experience on mobile devices and the factors that could be employed to enhance it. The study specifically investigated the effects of different loading screen types (passive and interactive) and the influence of colour on the user waiting experience.

105 university students used a simulated mobile app with 3 different rotating ring loading screens: 1) passive greyscale animation, 2) interactive greyscale animation triggered by touch, and 3) interactive colour-changing animation triggered by touch. These were tested at short (2s), medium (5s), and long (10s) wait times.

After each experience, participants rated their emotional state (pleasure, arousal, dominance), time perception (attention, speed), and preferred loading type.

The results demonstrated a direct relationship between the type of loading screen, the duration of waiting time, and user satisfaction. Interestingly, the participants preferred interactive animations during medium and long waiting times (5s and 10s), while these were perceived as too busy at shorter durations (2s). The researchers suggested that this occurs as interactive animations are more resource-intensive and may not fully render within a brief waiting period, thus negative affecting the user experience.

Colour emerged as an influential factor as well. A loading screen with colour-changing interactive animation was perceived as faster and more likeable than screens with passive or grey-scale interactive animations. This aligns with existing research that demonstrates the psychological impact of colour, indicating that a strategic use of colour could provide not only loading feedback but also evoke emotions that positively influence the user's perception of the application.

Lastly, the study found that interactive animations generally improved the waiting experience for medium and longer durations, thanks to their ability to divert the users' attention and provide a simple task to perform during the waiting time.

Photo by Mike van den Bos on Unsplash

Implications for UX

The findings of the Cheng et al. study provide useful insights and practical suggestions for UX professionals, particularly those designing mobile applications.

• The design of loading screens should be informed by the expected duration of waiting time. For shorter durations, simpler animations may be appropriate, while interactive elements could improve user satisfaction during longer waits (5-10s).

• The use of colour in loading screens can substantially influence user perception and satisfaction. As such, we should consider strategically incorporating colour, especially for applications that may involve longer load times.

• Interactive loading screens are effective in enhancing the waiting experience, especially during longer waits. By providing a means of interaction, these screens can reduce perceived wait time and improve the overall user experience.

These findings can provide us with a starting point when deciding how to manage wait times. Ideally, user research should further examine what the optimal approach is as time perception can be affected by a number of factors, including user differences.