Reducing Perceived Waiting Time with Peripheral Visual Motion: Directional and Device-Specific Effects

Waiting times during digital interactions such as application launches or web content loading can negatively impact user experience. Although progress bars are commonly used to mitigate this effect, their visual design typically engages only the central field of vision. This study investigates how peripheral visual stimuli presented alongside progress bars influence users’ perception of time. A preliminary experiment was conducted to identify effective motion patterns for peripheral stimuli. A subsequent large-scale crowdsourced experiment revealed that stimuli moving in the same direction as the progress bar, especially those with intermittent motion, significantly reduced perceived waiting time. Furthermore, a follow-up lab-based study compared the effects across device types and found that horizontal peripheral stimuli were more effective on PC displays, while vertical stimuli had greater impact on smartphones. These findings suggest that peripheral visual information can modulate perceived waiting time and offer actionable insights for designing user interfaces that improve the experience of waiting across different platforms.