Long Process - Do you know that you should provide a detailed summary, play a sound and hide the progress bar at the end?
SSW Rules to Better Interfaces (Windows Applications)|18cfdc56-c52b-43db-8fcc-b677e5ce4aee
v1.0
Posted at
27/11/2012 2:07 PM by
Rebecca Liu
Rule Intro
Whenever a long process is churning away (e.g. about 10 seconds) users will usually do something else, either make a coffee or switch to another window.
Page Content
Your application should remind the user to go back and check on it by:
- Playing a sound
- Hiding the progress bar
- Showing a message box at the end of the long process
When using Message Box to indicate user a process is done, always includes detailed summary of the process. Don't just say "Process completed."
Process completed.
- Figure: Bad example – No detailed information
This is just like standing at a set of traffic lights listening for the beep to know when to walk, rather than constantly looking at the red and green lights.

- Figure: OK Example - A completed progress form
Manual extraction process completed.
Mailboxes scanned: 8
Mailboxes skipped: 2
Total mailboxes: 10
Time Taken: 10 minutes, 15 seconds
- Figure: Good example – The user can see what has been processed
{4927EE44-1FDE-4479-A356-C07A6798B804}
Do you feel this rule needs an update?