IT Progress Indicators: Sense of Progress, Subjective Sense of Time, User Preference and the Perception of Process Duration

T. S. Amer and Todd L. Johnson
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T. S. Amer: The W. A. Franke College of Business, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA
Todd L. Johnson: The W. A. Franke College of Business, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA

International Journal of Technology and Human Interaction (IJTHI), 2014, vol. 10, issue 3, 58-71

Abstract: Users of information technology (IT) often encounter “progress indicators” during their interactions. These graphics (e.g., progress bars) appear on computing screens as users wait for a task to complete. The purpose of progress indicators is to inform users of the progress being made to complete a task. This study employs two theoretical models from psychological research on human waiting to develop specific hypotheses related to the design of progress indicators: the sense-of-progress and the subjective-sense-of-time frameworks. The results of three experiments indicate that progress indicators exhibiting key characteristics from these frameworks influence user experiences. Experiment 1 revealed that participants preferred a linear progress bar to a cycling progress bar. Experiment 2 revealed that participants preferred a video progress indicator to a cycling progress bar, and judged the process duration to be shorter with the video progress indicator. Experiment 3 revealed that the video progress indicator yielded the best user experience.

Date: 2014
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