Loading and Early Computers

Figure 7. Loading Icons. From “Wait Wait…Tell Me!”, by 99%invisible, Retrieved from https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/wait-wait-tell-me/

In wanting to understand the design language of communicating wait times and how we got to where we are now, I went back to the first graphic representations of waiting; the loading bars on computers. Good (or bad) design can have a huge impact on perceived wait time and satisfaction while waiting, especially in a setting like computers were a 3 second wait while a page loads can feel like an eternity. As Roman Mars says in the 99% invisible podcast ‘Wait Wait…Tell Me!’ “it turns out that design can completely change whether a five-minute wait feels reasonable or completely unbearable.” While a lot has been done to try and reduce wait times in this area, a lot of progression has also been made in improving the waiting experience itself.

In the early days of the Xerox star and early Macintoshes the loading icons were a static hourglass or wristwatch icons. And even though these were the fastest computers to date, the general perception was that these computers were frustratingly slow. Later on they animated the icons, but even when the loading icon moved and was more pleasing to look at, like a watch with spinning hand, and a hourglass with dropping sand, it didn’t change the feeling of powerlessness, that you had no idea how long the wait would be, and had not control over that time. It could be minutes or hours, and the user felt trapped. (Farman, 2018) The designs that worked well are the ones that not only gave the user an idea of how long they would be waiting for, but the transparency to see what the computer was doing while you waited. This allow the user to see the work that was being done and therefore the time was more valued. There is a clear difference between the feeling of waiting as the spinning beach ball of doom seemingly spins forever without any hope of progress and seeing a progress bar fill up as a program installs. The transparency here is that the user can see that the computer is

Figure 8. Loading Bar. From “Wait Wait…Tell Me!”, by xmodulo.com, Retrieved from https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/wait-wait-tell-me/ (CC BY 2.0),

Figure 9. Spinning ball of death. From “Wait Wait…Tell Me!”, by 99% Invisible, Retrieved from https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/wait-wait-tell-me/

doing something, even if it not clear what is being done. There is also the setting up of expectation. As soon as the user sees how long the first 10% takes to load, there is an indication of how long the rest will take. The user is then given back a sense of control over what they can do in that time. Some examples of progress in this direction were various progress bars, some showing percentages and others flash though files as program installs. The biggest issue with this type of loading icon is when it sets up a false expectation if the first 10% loads really fast and the rest is slow – we feel let down. What this highlights is that expectations are just as important as seeing the progress. This realisation lead designers in the 2000’s to design the “front-loaded loading” bars, that loaded artificially slow at the beginning and fast at the end, tricking the user into a feeling of satisfaction that the process loaded faster than expected. This version of the loading bar, and all previous versions, really shows how much a designer is able manipulate the users experience.