Interesting article with some key learnings that can inform how Web sites and applications ought to be built. Here are some key callouts:
- To create the illusion of direct manipulation, a user interface has to respond in less than 0.1 second. This is a guideline for AJAX-style interactions that you create on sites. It’s got to be fast.
- During 1-second response times, users retain the feeling of being control. Therefore, pages must display within 1 second for users to feel they’re navigating freely. Otherwise, you feel like the computer is holding you back.
- At more than 10 seconds response time on new pages, users will generally leave your site.
- Most website visits last between 2-4 minutes, with an average time per page of 30 seconds.
Read the full article at: Powers of 10: Time Scales in User Experience Jakob Nielsen’s Alertbox.
