Arizona State University, Mesa, Arizona 85212, USA.
Hum Factors. 2009 Aug;51(4):528-38. doi: 10.1177/0018720809345684.
Three experiments examined the effects of various feedback displays on user preference, apparent waiting durations, waiting time reasonableness, and other user experience measures.
User interface guidelines advocate keeping users informed about system status; however, the duration estimation literature shows that focusing on temporal information makes the wait seem longer. How can designers reconcile these issues?
In three experiments, students chose movies from a simulated movie database and then were shown feedback displays (static, sequential dots, constant-rate progress bars, or variable-rate progress bars) for different durations. Users judged how reasonable the wait was and how long it lasted and then ranked their preference for the dialogs.
The pattern of preference results was different from duration-related judgments. Users preferred feedback that provided more information. On the other hand, when judging duration, users perceived simpler interfaces as being most reasonable.
Different types of feedback are required for reducing perceived wait and increasing preference. Ratings of wait time reasonableness were consistent with the attentional gate theory of prospective timing; attention-demanding activity caused the wait to seem less reasonable. Preference, on the other hand, requires keeping users informed about the progress of operations.
Users prefer more feedback rather than less, even if it makes the wait seem less reasonable. However, the constant progress bar performed at the top of both reasonableness and preference, keeping users informed without increasing arousal or focusing attention on temporal stimuli. Other options are also discussed to make duration perceptions more reasonable.
三项实验研究了各种反馈显示对用户偏好、明显等待时间、等待时间合理性和其他用户体验度量的影响。
用户界面指南主张让用户了解系统状态；然而，持续时间估计文献表明，关注时间信息会使等待时间显得更长。设计师如何调和这些问题？
在三项实验中，学生从模拟电影数据库中选择电影，然后观看不同持续时间的反馈显示（静态、顺序点、恒定速率进度条或可变速率进度条）。用户判断等待是否合理以及持续多长时间，然后对对话框进行偏好排序。
偏好结果的模式与持续时间相关的判断不同。用户更喜欢提供更多信息的反馈。另一方面，在判断持续时间时，用户认为更简单的界面最合理。
需要不同类型的反馈来减少感知等待时间并增加偏好。等待时间合理性的评分与前瞻性计时的注意门理论一致；注意力要求高的活动会使等待时间显得不太合理。另一方面，偏好要求让用户了解操作的进度。
用户更喜欢更多的反馈而不是更少的反馈，即使这会使等待时间显得不那么合理。然而，恒定进度条在合理性和偏好方面表现最佳，在不增加唤醒或注意力集中在时间刺激上的情况下，让用户了解情况。还讨论了其他选项来使持续时间感知更合理。
