Op 13-09-2008 19:52 schreef Martijn:

The perception of progress

There's an idea, a concept if you like, that has been running through my head for a while now, popping up every now and then. But until now I haven't felt quite ready to write about it, to share my views. Indeed, until now. For this morning a simple discussion made me feel I've got all pieces together to no longer be puzzled about what to describe in this article.

As the title explains, this is about the perception of progress. More and more it has occurred to me this is as important, perhaps even (far) more important than actual measurable progress. I wouldn't go so far as to call it a universal truth, but it's applicable to a lot of areas. Bearing this in mind, especially in your work environment, could save you a fair amount of discussion. We might be able to use it to our advantage if we are able to control someones perception. Let's explore. Let's start off with what finally made me write this article. This morning at work I had a discussion with a friend about staying late at the office to avoid traffic. The night before she left the office an hour and a half late to avoid getting stuck in a 20 kilometer traffic jam. I was trying to convince her that leaving at the end of the day would still make a difference. Leaving on time instead of an hour and a half late wouldn't necessarily make you get home that same hour and a half earlier, but it's practically impossible that you would actually arrive earlier if you leave the office late (which was her point-of-view).

It almost ended up in both of us saying "sure, whatever..." in a "I know i'm right anyway"-tone-of-voice, when I realized it really didn't matter. In any case it's not worth having a discussion over, but even more we were talking about two almost entirely different things. Where I was talking about the fact that the mathematical chances of someone leaving later arriving earlier are gently put very slim, she was (although not aware of it) talking about perceived speed.

Even though the concept is quite self-explanatory, I'll describe what I mean. It has a lot to do with Einsteins theory of relativity, or better, it has everything to do with it. If you spend an hour stuck in traffic, it feels like more than proportionally longer then if you would drive home in half an hour outside rush-hour. Or as Einstein put it: "If you sat on a hot stove for 5 minutes, it would seem like an hour. If you talked to a beautiful and charming woman for an hour it would seem like 5 minutes. Thats relativity". However, this is only a part of the 'problem'.

The other part is the fact that most of us love to have visible progress. Obviously when stuck in traffic progress is down to a minimum, but even when you're on the highway outside rush-hour, the concept is still applicable. It's the reason why some people don't maintain speed-limits (even though driving faster hardly ever means you arrive earlier. Ever had one of those moments where you are overtaken by someone, and you end up standing next to the guy at the traffic lights?). It's the reason why people constantly jump from one lane to another in heavy traffic. It's also the reason why people drive over the hard shoulder the last few yards before the exit in heavy traffic. They feel they are making more progress than the other guy. Do you ever do any of the above mentioned examples? Makes you feel kind of bummed when you switch lanes because you feel that lines is 'faster', and a few minutes later you are passed by the guy who was driving behind you, doesn't it?

But I wouldn't be writing this article if it was only about traffic, would I?! When I work for a client, I always try to deliver something visible every once and a while. Although it might not be the most logical way of developing, I try to create something structural as well as visible on a regular basis, for example every week. Any developer will tell you it's better to work on a good basis before you start working on for example the front end layout, but that's why they are developers right? But especially on large projects, to avoid unnecessary discussion with the client on progress, it's good to 'keep the client happy' while you work on the 'more important' stuff.

Do note that there is a good reason that both 'keep the client happy' and 'more important' are emphasized. I'm definitely not saying you should make a day-job out of keeping clients happy (at all cost), because trust me, I've seen people do this and it never ends up well. Nor am I saying that what you find more important is indeed more important (to the client). For the client it's sometimes hard to understand that you are working on something that is perhaps technically more important than, for example, where a certain button is located in their website. It's important to find the balance between working on what is invisible to the client, and 'creating' visible progress.

I saw a good example of creating visible progress the other day. I was driving on the A7 highway, when I ran into roadworks. 1 lane would be closed for about 7 kilometers, and thus the maximum speed was reduced to 70kph. Driving along 7 kilometers of roadworks can feel like quite a long time, but they had placed signs along every kilometer, mentioning how far along you were. The signs were actually accompanied by smiley faces, looking not so cheerful at the beginning, but looking increasingly happy near the end. I like the signs because of 2 things: they let you know 'they' (mainly the government in this case) understand the inconvenience, and they make progress visible. Think about it next time the clients ask you how far along you are. Would you rather tell them you're making good progress but unfortunately you can't actually show them that, or would you rather show them some new pages or functionalities? Visible progress in any case?

All in all creating visible progress, or creating perceived progress, is applicable to a lot of areas. If you have any other examples do let me know in the comments, because I'm sure there are many. I'm also quite interested in any examples where creating perceived progress could prevent people to have to create their own progress. Sounds a bit strange perhaps, but I can give you one example of this. What if you could have people think they are actually driving faster than they are (we are talking about perception here right), to prevent them from speeding? Any suggestions?