The Hourglass - My Pet Peeve:

Oh how I hate that hourglass icon. When I want a machine to do something, I expect results in milliseconds. If two whole seconds go by I want to know "What's the holdup?"

I don't think I'm alone in this regard. I understand that certain algorithms are complicated and can take time. As "Big Data" gets bigger and more distributed across multiple devices and networks, communication holdups can make things even slower. Nevertheless, opacity is no way to treat the user. The user cannot read the mind of the robot - unless they are given tools to do so.

There is a simple solution to this, but it requires extra programming. Simply provide some indicator (an icon, a cursor, some other feedback) that reveals the internal state of the software. If it's cursors that you're using to communicate with the user, then make a few versions of that hourglass - one for each major internal state of the software. In this way, the user can make intelligent control decisions - instead of simply "Going to get another cup of coffee"
Don't be a lazy coder - let the user read the mind of your robot.

For example code that you are free to copy, as well as some example doodles for informative graphics, see my INTEGRAT repository on GitHub. And if you are a user - report it as a bug - because it is!

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