Can humor cut down on perceived response time?

Question

After reading a StackoOverflow question http://stackoverflow.com/questions/182112/funny-loading-statements-to-keep-users-amused, I was really intrigued to ponder upon this question "Can humor cut down on response time?"

In a page loading lots of data, instead of just "please wait" or "loading data", can a humorous / funny / witty message cut down the perceived response time (as perceived by the user)? I guess it can take 3-5 secs off the user's count of response time.

What do Joel, Jeff, and others feel about this ?

Answer 1

After the 42nd time the widgetObject takes 40 seconds to load, the humor becomes annoying.

When you are waiting for something to happen, it gives you a chance to see the flaw in the joke.

Why didn't the #@#$ spend more time writing better code than writing jokes?

Answer 2

http://www.shmula.com/384/on-queueing-and-elevator-mirrors

Answer 3

One very important thing to consider is also the perception of quality or professionalism. If I'm waiting on a game or entertainment application, then humor might provide a distraction.

However, when working on an office or financial application I would not want to see any humorous messages. That would lead me to question the integrity of the otherwise serious application.

If you are really interested, read "Designing and Engineering Time: The Psychology of Time Perception in Software" by Steven C. Seow.

Answer 4

1st time cute 2nd time ok 3rd time annoying 4th time Microsoft paper-clip hell

It's so hard to really guess what people will think...AI and HCI are deep fields, whenever experts try to guess what will be "friedlier" they seem to often make it worse.

Classic example, Douglas Adams' spaceship with the passengers locked up for hundreds of years on an abandoned planet, but the robot crew insisting they need pink napkins and eventually a civilization will arise that will provide them, etc. (I think they were pink.)

Answer 5

Rather than using humor, I find a progress bar cuts down on perceived time. At least the user has something to watch, and knows that progress is being made

I agree with the above. Fancy things just annoy me.

Answer 6

I agree with MatthieuF: a progress bar is a better option.

If you fancy putting in the effort, you might want to make the progress bar lie a little: people perceive it as taking less time if it accelerates as it goes along. More details here: http://www.chrisharrison.net/projects/progressbars/index.html

If not, at least an honest progress bar lets you know if you have time to go and make a cup of tea. (Or reticulate some splines...)