Progress

Visible work

Effort: Low

What to notice

While computing, real steps such as "matching criteria" and "checking stock" appear in order.

How to build it

  1. Describe the real processing in two to four steps.
  2. Mark each step as it actually finishes.
  3. If processing is fast, do not add waiting for show.

Measure

Main metric
Sign-up rate from the result screen
Guardrail
Abandonment during the wait

When it backfires

Displaying steps that do not happen is deceptive.

Theory behind it

Labor illusion

Seeing the work behind a result makes it feel more valuable, even with a wait.

Limited evidence

Response-time limits

Under 0.1 seconds feels instant, under 1 second keeps the flow of thought, and over 10 seconds loses attention.

Well supported

Playable demos

Try the same mechanism in a playable demo.

Sorting Visualizer