Do Animation Direction and Position of Progress Bar Affect Selections?

Web sites and applications show visual feedback such as a progress bar or a throbber to signal that users should wait. These moving objects guide the eye. We hypothesized that users would end up looking near the end position of the visual feedback after waiting. As a result that users might be more likely to select an object near the end position of the visual feedback. This study focused on using a progress bar as visual feedback for waiting and on the design to influence the users’ subsequent choice. We tested our hypotheses using a progress bar with different display positions and animation directions. The results suggest that changing the progress bar’s position on a display or the animation’s direction may bias the subsequent selection position.