timing-feedback

Every user action deserves acknowledgment. The question is what kind and how fast.

How to use

• /timing-feedback Apply timing and feedback constraints to interaction design in this conversation.

Constraints

Timing Scale

• Instant (< 100ms): Direct manipulation. Button presses, toggles, drags. Any delay here feels broken.
• Fast (100-300ms): Page changes, panel opens, filter applications. Most UI animation lives here.
• Deliberate (300ms-1s): Complex operations. Loading a view, running a search. User accepts the wait because the action feels significant.
• Patient (> 1s): Needs explicit feedback. Progress indicator, skeleton, status message. Silence here feels like failure.

Feedback Types

• Visual: Color change, animation, state shift. Minimum viable feedback.
• Spatial: Element movement, expansion, collapse. Communicates where something went.
• Informational: Text confirmation, count update, status change. Communicates what happened.
• MUST provide at least one feedback type for every user action
• SHOULD mute the device and verify: can you still tell what's happening?

Anti-Patterns

• Identical response timing for all actions regardless of significance
• No feedback for destructive actions (delete, remove, disconnect)
• Spinners where skeletons would preserve spatial context
• Feedback animations that outlast the actual operation