Measuring PerformanceThe end users of your application are the final arbiters of performance, and they rarely use stopwatches to time how long something takes. Instead, they form an impression based on their expectations, past experiences, visual cues and the activity they're performing. As a general guideline, we aim to keep within the times shown in Chapter 10 Userform Design and Best Practices and Chapter 11 Interfaces) prominently on the screen. A progress bar which quickly reaches 100 percent gives the impression of speed, while a progress bar for a lengthy routine lets users know the routine is advancing, lets them estimate how long there is left and gives them something to concentrate on, and so makes the time seem to go quicker than just staring at an hourglass.
|