Artificial Awaiting

We trust and value important results more when we obtain them after a delay (even if the waiting time is faked).— Source 

The Problem

  • 47% of people say they don't want to wait for more than 2s for a screen to load, 1  but ironically…
  • …if your users are waiting for an important query (e.g. search, analysis, reporting), they become skeptical if the calculation time is too short.

Introducing a well-designed loading screen right after a key action can make users feel better and improve the experience.

The Solution: Slow It Down

When you slow things down to communicate effort, you're using something called the "KAYAK Effect" (based on the travel booking site that used that tactic).

Researchers call it "Labor Illusion Effect" or "Artificial Waiting."

The ROI Of Making Users Wait? A well-designed effect can increase the perceived value of your app by 32%.

5 Golden Rules For A Great "Labor Illusion"

DO use a "Labor Illusion" if…
The user has high expectations for the results. This can be related to emotions or money. For example, TurboTax's stressful tax submission, finding cheap flights on KAYAK, or sending a newsletter to 20,000 through Mailchimp.
The user just provided sensitive information (dating preferences, social security number, address).

DON'T use it if…
  • The waiting animations & text don't focus clearly on user benefits.
  • The Labor Illusion doesn't make the user feel genuinely better.
  • It doesn't feel ethical in your context.

The Next Steps

Read this  case study by growth.design 
Find a critical moment where your product should 'work hard' to bring benefits to your users. Make sure you respect the previous '5 Golden Rules'.
Note down the key emotions, benefits, and expectations of the user at that specific moment.
Brainstorm 3 'Labor Illusion' experiments to make the anticipation more delightful and reassuring.
A/B test between the 'delay' & 'no delay' variants.