Counting the Wait: Effects of Temporal Feedback on Downstream Task Performance and Perceived Wait-Time Experience during System-Imposed Delays

2026-02-04

AI Summary

It remains unclear how different time feedback modes during system-imposed waiting periods affect users’ waiting experience and subsequent task performance. This study addresses this gap through a large-scale online experiment (N = 425) that integrates a visual reasoning task with three waiting durations (10, 30, and 60 seconds) to compare the effects of three feedback conditions: remaining time, elapsed time, and no time display. The findings reveal, for the first time, that displaying remaining time tends to heighten user frustration, whereas omitting time information leads to longer perceived wait durations and greater uncertainty. Notably, none of the feedback modes significantly influenced downstream task performance. By integrating perspectives from psychophysics and cognitive science, this work provides theoretical grounding and practical implications for the design of waiting interfaces.

Technology Category

• Humans and AI: User Experience and Usability
• Knowledge Representation and Reasoning: Preferences
• Cognitive Modeling & Cognitive Systems: Social Cognition And Interaction

Application Category

• User Modeling, Personalization and Recommendation: Studies of user behavior, including longitudinal effects of personalized systems
• Responsible Web: Human-perceived consequences of algorithmic deployment on the web
• Web Mining and Content Analysis: Content-based information diffusion

Abstract

System-imposed wait times can significantly disrupt digital workflows, affecting user experience and task performance. Prior HCI research has examined how temporal feedback, such as feedback mode (Elapsed-Time vs. Remaining-Time) shapes wait-time perception. However, few studies have investigated how such feedback influences users'downstream task performance, as well as overall affective and cognitive experience. To study these effects, we conducted an online experiment where 425 participants performing a visual reasoning task experienced a 10-, 30-, or 60-second wait with a Remaining-Time, Elapsed-Time, or No Time Display. Findings show that temporal feedback mode shapes how waiting is perceived: Remaining-Time feedback increased frustration relative to Elapsed-Time feedback, while No Time Display made waits feel longer and heightened ambiguity. Notably, these experiential differences did not translate into differences in post-wait task performance. Integrating psychophysical and cognitive science perspectives, we discuss implications for implementing temporal feedback in latency-prone digital systems.

Problem

• temporal feedback
• system-imposed delays
• wait-time perception
• task performance
• user experience

Innovation

• temporal feedback
• wait-time perception
• task performance
• human-computer interaction
• system-imposed delays