What's Going On? The Importance Of User Feedback

Some form of feedback or progress is of enormous assistance to the user in any waiting situation. This both informs the user and confirms that the device is working as expected.

It is a basic assumption on the web that download times should be kept to a minimum. After all, the longer people are left waiting, the more likely they are to back out (quite literally) of a transaction and look elsewhere for the same service. But despite the general accuracy of this point of view, there is perhaps slightly more to it than this.

What frustrates users about slow download times is not so much the wait as the uncertainty. The online environment remains somewhat unreliable - certainly unreliable enough for a user to be unsure that every page request is likely to be successful. In this situation, the lack of ability of the browser to accurately reflect progress is a serious issue in terms of web effectiveness and user satisfaction.

Some form of feedback or progress is of enormous assistance to the user in any waiting situation. When we think of machines that typically require users to wait for a period of time, such as automated telling machines, most include some form of feedback as to what is happening. This both informs the user and confirms that the device is working as expected.

Our own experience when user testing any form of public kiosk or interface reflects this - a lack of feedback when there is a delay in the system will cause confused users to give up on the task they are attempting to perform. The converse is that users will wait if they can be reasonably certain that the machine in question is working towards a successful conclusion of the task in hand.

This is partly because they are less likely to give up on something that seems to be going somewhere - would you walk away from a bank machine asking you to wait for your money? But equally important is the issue of perception. As a rule (and common sense experience reflects this) anxious, uncertain and unexplained waiting feels longer than waiting whose purpose is clearly understood by the user. In fact, users who have completed set tasks are always liable to under-estimate waiting time, whereas users who failed in a task will often criticise a site for being slow even when this was not the case.

For interface designers, a few simple steps can help avoid user frustration with waiting times:

• If at all possible, always include some indicator of progress when the user is being asked to wait for any reason. This will not only contextualise the situation, but also provide confirmation that the system is still 'working'.
• On the web, progress indication can be more problematic, but users appreciate sites that download stage by stage and thus indicate as soon as possible that the page will download successfully. Try and ensure text downloads before graphics - most users are not particularly interested in pictures and certainly don't want them to delay the arrival of content.
• If there is a problem, let the user know in clear and unambiguous terms and suggest positive alternative actions. This will lead to increased user confidence in frequently-used systems.