What's The Download...

I recently attended the User Interface Engineering (UIE) Roadshow, http://www.uie.com/events/roadshow/, where the designerati and userati were out in full force. I feel like a junkie because I can never get enough of this stuff. Jared, as always, didn't disappoint. It was an enlightening experience - reinforcing familiar concepts and learning new ones. Some of the topics presented on were designing for scent, usability testing techniques, search, navigation, and bolstering team buy-in.

Its always interesting to gain insight into UIE's research. Some of their lab test results are sometimes shocking and amusing. One of the findings reported on that struck me was that download perception was greater than reality. We've always been taught that there's a direct correlation between download time and user dropoff rates. Their tests showed that if users are engaged enough, even if a site is slow, their perception of the time it takes to load a page is favorable. Interesting! Lets face it...technology sometimes fails us. Anything, we, as web creators can do to minimize the impact is a good thing. So, what's the secret sauce you ask? Its the old...respect the user adage!!! Keep users empowered and informed by way of progress bars, appropriate messaging, and time countdowns. Lesson learned...done correctly, you CAN keep them waiting and wanting for more!