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UX Atlas
TermCraft conventionFoundational

Perceived Performance

How fast it seems, rather than how fast it is.

Definition

How fast an experience feels, which can be improved without changing the underlying speed.

Craft convention. True because the industry converged on it. Breaking it costs familiarity, not correctness.

In plain language

How fast it seems, rather than how fast it is.

Example

Optimistic updates and skeletons matching the final layout both improve perception without reducing latency.

Each link says what the connection is, so you can tell a principle from an alternative from a thing people mix this up with.

Deeper reading

The full entry behind this definition.

Nearby in the Atlas

Adjacent territory, found through shared tags rather than a stated link.