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UX writingExpert heuristicFoundational

Loading and Progress Copy

Say what is happening, how long it will take if you know, and whether it is safe to leave.

Definition

Loading copy accompanies any wait the reader can perceive. Its job is to convert an unexplained pause into an understood one, and to say whether the reader is needed.

Expert heuristic. A review criterion developed by practitioners. Useful and widely taught, but evaluated by judgement rather than measurement.

On this page
  1. Definition
  2. The same wait, three ways
  3. What to show at each duration
  4. Writing them
  5. Continue from here

The same wait, three ways

WeakBetterBestWhy the last one wins
Loading…Loading your reportsLoading 12 months of reports, about 10 secondsSets an expectation that the reader can decide against.
Please waitUploadingUploading 3 of 8 files. You can keep working.Says the wait does not require attention.
ProcessingGenerating your exportGenerating your export. We will email you when it is ready.Releases the reader from the screen entirely.
Almost thereFinishing upApplying changes to 1,204 recordsDescribes real work instead of pretending to be nearly done.

What to show at each duration

The threshold matters more than the wording. Words cannot rescue an unacknowledged action.

  • Under about 100 milliseconds: nothing. Feedback that appears and vanishes reads as a glitch.
  • Up to about a second: an immediate state change on the control itself, with no text.
  • One to about ten seconds: a skeleton or determinate progress, plus a sentence naming the work.
  • Longer than that: progress, an estimate if honest, and a way to leave and be notified.

Writing them

Do

  • Name the specific work: 'Checking availability', not 'Processing'.
  • Say when the reader is free to go elsewhere.
  • Announce completion through a live region so it is not missed by anyone not watching that area.
  • Keep the message stable. Text that cycles through jokes makes a long wait feel longer.

Do not

  • Do not claim progress you are not measuring.
  • Do not use humour on a wait that might fail.
  • Do not leave a failed operation showing a spinner.

Continue from here

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

Principles behind this

The reasoning this solution is an application of.

Related concept

Connected closely enough to change how you apply this.