Small Thing Big Idea
Daniel Engber: How the progress bar keeps you sane
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The progress bar makes waiting more exciting... and mitigates our fear of death. Journalist Daniel Engber explores how it came into existence.
Daniel Engber - Journalist
Daniel Engber explores science and culture as an award-winning journalist for Radiolab, the New York Times, Slate and Wired, among others. Full bio
Daniel Engber explores science and culture as an award-winning journalist for Radiolab, the New York Times, Slate and Wired, among others. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:12
How many people are bored at their desk
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for how many hours every day
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and how many days a week
and how many weeks a year
and how many weeks a year
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for how many years in their life?
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[Small thing. Big idea.]
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[Daniel Engber on
the Progress Bar]
the Progress Bar]
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The progress bar is just
an indicator on a computer
an indicator on a computer
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that something's happening
inside the device.
inside the device.
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The classic one that's been used
for years is a horizontal bar.
for years is a horizontal bar.
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I mean, this goes back
to pre-computer versions of this
to pre-computer versions of this
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on ledgers, where people would fill in
a horizontal bar from left to right
a horizontal bar from left to right
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to show how much of a task
they had completed at a factory.
they had completed at a factory.
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This is just the same thing on a screen.
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Something happened in the 70s
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that is sometimes referred
to as "the software crisis,"
to as "the software crisis,"
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where suddenly, computers
were getting more complicated
were getting more complicated
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more quickly than anyone
had been prepared for,
had been prepared for,
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from a design perspective.
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People were using percent-done
indicators in different ways.
indicators in different ways.
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So you might have a graphical
countdown clock,
countdown clock,
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or they would have a line of asterisks
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that would fill out
from left to right on a screen.
from left to right on a screen.
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But no one had done
a systematic survey of these things
a systematic survey of these things
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and tried to figure out:
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How do they actually affect
the user's experience
the user's experience
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of sitting at the computer?
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This graduate student named Brad Myers,
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in 1985, decided he would study this.
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He found that it didn't really matter
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if the percent-done indicator
was giving you the accurate percent done.
was giving you the accurate percent done.
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What mattered was
that it was there at all.
that it was there at all.
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Just seeing it there
made people feel better,
made people feel better,
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and that was the most surprising thing.
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He has all these ideas
about what this thing could do.
about what this thing could do.
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Maybe it could make people
relax effectively.
relax effectively.
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Maybe it would allow people
to turn away from their machine
to turn away from their machine
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and do something else
of exactly the right duration.
of exactly the right duration.
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They would look and say,
"Oh, the progress bar is half done.
"Oh, the progress bar is half done.
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That took five minutes.
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So now I have five minutes
to send this fax,"
to send this fax,"
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or whatever people were doing in 1985.
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Both of those things are wrong.
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Like, when you see that progress bar,
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it sort of locks your attention
in a tractor beam,
in a tractor beam,
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and it turns the experience of waiting
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into this exciting narrative
that you're seeing unfold in front of you:
that you're seeing unfold in front of you:
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that somehow, this time you've spent
waiting in frustration
waiting in frustration
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for the computer to do something,
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has been reconceptualized as:
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"Progress! Oh! Great stuff is happening!"
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[Progress...]
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But once you start thinking
about the progress bar
about the progress bar
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as something that's more
about dulling the pain of waiting,
about dulling the pain of waiting,
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well, then you can start fiddling
around with the psychology.
around with the psychology.
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So if you have a progress bar
that just moves at a constant rate --
that just moves at a constant rate --
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let's say, that's really
what's happening in the computer --
what's happening in the computer --
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that will feel to people
like it's slowing down.
like it's slowing down.
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We get bored.
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Well, now you can start
trying to enhance it
trying to enhance it
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and make it appear to move
more quickly than it really is,
more quickly than it really is,
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make it move faster at the beginning,
like a burst of speed.
like a burst of speed.
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That's exciting, people feel like,
"Oh! Something's really happening!"
"Oh! Something's really happening!"
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Then you can move back into a more
naturalistic growth of the progress bar
naturalistic growth of the progress bar
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as you go along.
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You're assuming that people are focusing
on the passage of time --
on the passage of time --
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they're trying to watch grass grow,
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they're trying to watch a pot of water,
waiting for it to boil,
waiting for it to boil,
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and you're just trying
to make that less boring,
to make that less boring,
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less painful and less frustrating
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than it was before.
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So the progress bar at least gives you
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the vision of a beginning and an end,
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and you're working towards a goal.
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I think in some ways,
it mitigates the fear of death.
it mitigates the fear of death.
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Too much?
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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Daniel Engber - JournalistDaniel Engber explores science and culture as an award-winning journalist for Radiolab, the New York Times, Slate and Wired, among others.
Why you should listen
Daniel Engber's scientific method of distracting free-throw shooters in the NBA appeared in the New York Times Magazine's "Year in Ideas" and his viral website, Crying While Eating, earned spots on "The Tonight Show," VH1 and National Public Radio. He studied literature at Harvard College and neuroscience at the University of California, San Francisco and has won several awards for his writing, including the National Academies of Science Communication Award in 2012.
Daniel Engber | Speaker | TED.com