UX designers need to be aware of the difference between progress indicators and its effect on usability for the user.

1. How UX Design Services
Use Progress Indicators
99%
Complete

2. No matter what digital platform a user is on,
progress indicators tend to be a major cause
of tension for the user. Progress indicators are
also known as “visibility of system status” and
essentially indicate to the user how far along is
a certain task. Although the way the progress
indicator is designed can be the critical for the
user experience and thus should be a primary
focus for UX design agencies.
Introduction

3. Choosing the Right Visual:
Spinners vs. Progress Bars
Consumer
99%
The first step in the UX,
UI research for choosing
which type of progress
indicator to use is
essentially based on the
time length of the task.
The two most common
progress indicators are
spinners and progress
bars.

4. Choosing the Right Visual:
Spinners
Spinners are primarily used for short time periods. The sweet
spot for the time length of a spinner is about four seconds.
It is important to note that spinners just notify the user that
the task is in process but does not provide clear feedback on
the length of period remaining. For this reason, if you have a
spinner that goes longer than four seconds, you
may create a sense of irritation in the user.
< 4
Seconds

5. Choosing the Right Visual:
Progress Bars
Progress bars show the relative length of
time remaining in the task. This visual
provides the user an incentive to wait
and be more patient for the system to
complete. It is important to make sure
the animation in the bar is gradual and
at a consistent pace. Another decision
to make about progress bars is deciding
between a “percentage done” and “time
remaining” indication. As a general rule,
percentage done should be used when
the progress bar is less than a minute
and a time remaining when it is over a
minute.
VS
99%
3 Minutes Remaining

6. Important Note:
Provide Feedback
In order to ease the potential frustration of the user, providing
frequent and truthful feedback is key. Keeping the user up
to date on what happened, what is happening, and what will
happen is important in order for the user to know the process
is still underway and in a way that is efficient. UX services
should always have the goal of reducing the uncertainty in
the user, continually offering a reason for the user to wait,
and reducing the user’s perception of time. Thus, it is critical
for ux designers to use determinate rather than indeterminate
progress bars. Determinate indicate to the user how long the
operation will take whereas indeterminate does not have any
indication of length of time.

7. Conclusion
User experience research services indicate that waiting
for certain processes on systems to load or download
can cause high tension and frustration in the user.
Creating progress indicators that effectively notify the
user and keep them up to date on what is going on
internally within the computer or mobile device al-
low the user to have a sense of ease in a traditionally
stressful process.

8. Codal is a UX design and development
agency with a focus on blending an Agile
process with the latest technologies. Based
in the heart of Chicago, we have a knack
for bringing out the best in every brand
that we work with. Our clientele has ranged
from small business to enterprise, but our
philosophy has always remained the same:
to empower brand visibility and deliver the
most elegant web and mobile solutions
possible.