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Long page load times induce frustration

Page load time is the time it takes to display all the content on a web page. In some cases, these load times can be significantly long and induce frustration to the end user.

Overview

Page load time is how long it takes for all content on a webpage to appear. Studies show users are willing to wait 2-10 seconds. Slow pages often cause frustration and longer load times than we tolerate (10.3 secs on desktop, 27.3 secs on mobile).

  1. Faster pages are perceived as more interesting than slower pages.
  2. Tolerable waiting time for a page to load is about 2 seconds.
  3. When loading feedback is provided, it reaches 10 seconds.

The results suggest that the presence of feedback prolongs Web users’ tolerable waiting time and the tolerable waiting time for information retrieval is approximately 2 seconds. (Nah, 2004)

Pages which were retrieved faster were judged significantly more interesting than their slower counterparts. (Ramsay, 1998)

Reducing load times is not always easy, so feedback is another solution to maintain user experience. This allows transparency into the process and gives an estimation of waiting time, allowing users to do other activities while waiting.

Evidence and further readings

Here you can find a list of references to dive deeper on the subject.