Indication of user-driven progress.An evaluation of the impact of progress indicator design on user

Abstract

The present study analyzes the how the indication of progress during a user-­‐driven task can be improved by means of changing the way it’s visualized in the UI. The author identifies a number of contexts in which progress indication can be used and attempts a summary of the multitude of ways progress can be visualized in HCI contexts. Thereafter, by means of an interview and two focus group sessions with users of different technical background, the author explores user experiences, preferences and opinions on the indicators mentioned. Following that, an empirical study of 2230 respondents of a playful quiz is used to measure a select few indicators’ impact on the break-­off rate. The result is a qualitative and quantitative analysis of how different progress indicators affect user experience and behavior. In the end, it turns out that users tend to favor the partitioning of tasks, and that this should be reflected in the design of the progress indicator. Furthermore, discussions indicate that the overall user experience can be improved by building immersion or curiosity for the task at hand. On the other hand, the results of the empirical study show that the de facto standard progress bar results in a high performance. Conclusively,the author interprets the findings, formulating guidelines for user-­driven progress and presents an example of best practice for progress indication in general.