Impatience induced by waiting: An effect moderated by the speed of Countdowns

Moojan Ghafurian, David Reitter

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

12 Scopus citations

Abstract

Countdowns and progress bars provide computer users with estimates of remaining wait times. These types of feedback are intended to manage their expectations and allow users to direct attention elsewhere. We suggest that they also moderate user's impatience, which affects decision-making in the subsequent task. In an experiment with 421 participants, impatience in a timing decision task was effectively and systematically manipulated through a countdown, as it affected timing and performance of the user's actions in the task. The effect persisted even after users gained task experience. More rapid countdowns reduced impatience. Post-hoc analysis also showed increased task satisfaction with rising countdown speed and suggested greater task satisfaction with a rapid countdown than with no waiting period at all.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationDIS 2016 - Proceedings of the 2016 ACM Conference on Designing Interactive Systems
Subtitle of host publicationFuse
PublisherAssociation for Computing Machinery, Inc
Pages556-564
Number of pages9
ISBN (Electronic)9781450340311
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 4 2016
Event11th ACM SIGCHI Conference on Designing Interactive Systems, DIS 2016 - Brisbane, Australia
Duration: Jun 4 2016Jun 8 2016

Publication series

NameDIS 2016 - Proceedings of the 2016 ACM Conference on Designing Interactive Systems: Fuse

Other

Other11th ACM SIGCHI Conference on Designing Interactive Systems, DIS 2016
Country/TerritoryAustralia
CityBrisbane
Period6/4/166/8/16

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Computer Graphics and Computer-Aided Design
  • Human-Computer Interaction
  • Software

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