Information technology progress indicators: Research employing psychological frameworks

T S Amer; Todd L. Johnson

doi:10.4018/978-1-5225-1868-6.ch008

Information technology progress indicators: Research employing psychological frameworks

T S Amer, Todd L. Johnson

Business, W.A. Franke College of

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter

Abstract

Users of information technology often encounter "progress indicators" during their interactions. These graphics (e.g., progress bars) appear on computing screens as users wait for a task to complete to inform them of the progress being made toward completing the task. This study employed theoretical models from psychological research on human waiting to develop specific hypotheses related to the design of progress indicators. Three experiments tested these hypotheses. Experiment 1 revealed that participants preferred a linear progress bar to a cycling progress bar. Experiment 2 revealed that participants preferred a video progress indicator to a cycling progress bar, and they judged process duration to be shorter with the video progress indicator. Experiment 3 revealed that the video progress indicator yielded the best user experience. Systems designers can use these results to develop more effective user interfaces.

Original language	English (US)
Title of host publication	Research Paradigms and Contemporary Perspectives on Human-Technology Interaction
Publisher	IGI Global
Pages	168-186
Number of pages	19
ISBN (Electronic)	9781522518693
ISBN (Print)	1522518681, 9781522518686
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-5225-1868-6.ch008
State	Published - Jan 25 2017

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ASJC Scopus subject areas

Computer Science(all)

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Amer, T. S., & Johnson, T. L. (2017). Information technology progress indicators: Research employing psychological frameworks. In Research Paradigms and Contemporary Perspectives on Human-Technology Interaction (pp. 168-186). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-5225-1868-6.ch008

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10.4018/978-1-5225-1868-6.ch008