Keywords

temporal distortion, user interface design, time dilation, user perception

Abstract

When a task is dull, time seems to unhelpfully dilate. This can have serious impacts on job satisfaction, burnout, and turnover – all of which impact employee well-being and the bottom line. Without changing the task, could a user interface take advantage of psychology-driven, theoretically-supported design decisions to make time seem to contract? If such is the case, we might, without much cost, partially alleviate employee suffering due to task fatigue and disinterest by making simple changes to the user interface. While psychology research and user interface design have intersected abundantly in extant literature, no study has empirically tested whether “time flies when you’re having fun” actually validates in the context of user interface design. This study begins on the path towards better understanding temporal distortions due to user interface design choices. Our findings are mixed and implore additional research in this area.

Original Publication Citation

Gaskin, J. (2021) “Can User Interface Design Choices Alter Perceptions of Time Passage?” AMCIS, Virtual.