The World Wide Wait: Effects of Delays on User Performance

This study investigated the effect of web page download delays on user performance. Participants completed tasks on a major airline web site with varying download delays of 1 second, 30 seconds, and 60 seconds. The dependent measures included lostness, frustration, task success, and task difficulty. Delays did not affect lostness, but frustration was increased by the longer download delays of 30 and 60 seconds.