We spend so much of our lives just… waiting.
For apps to load. For lines to move. For people to text back. For answers.
Think about it. That moment right after you tell someone something vulnerable, waiting for them to respond. There's this weird silence that's awkward, but also kind of… sacred? Like they're actually listening.
What if we designed waiting that way everywhere?
Not by filling every second with something. But by making the wait actually mean something.
In real life:
- Hospital waiting rooms with art and plants instead of just… beige walls. Suddenly you feel less panicked.
- Disney queues where you're so caught up in the story you forget you've been standing for 20 minutes.
- Hai Di Lao giving you snacks and a shoulder massage while you wait. Like, the wait becomes the good part.
In apps and websites:
- Spotify or Netflix showing you a beautiful album cover or movie poster during buffering, instead of a blank void. It's like they're saying: "Look at what's coming."
- Notion/Slack during loading. Shows keyboard shortcuts, productivity tips. You're learning while waiting. Every load screen becomes a micro-tutorial.
- Twitter/X's skeleton screens that show the shape of content before it loads, your brain knows something's happening. You're not stranded.
- Interactive loading games (like Slack's funny tips or Mailchimp's playful illustrations), suddenly waiting feels like a mini-reward instead of punishment.
What connects all of these? They're not pretending the wait doesn't exist. They're honoring it.
Resources if you want to dig deeper:
Contemplation by Design (Stanford Medicine). Campus-wide program on "the power of the pause" for balance, tranquility, and resilience. https://lnkd.in/gDQDNweT
Designing Calm: UX Principles for Reducing Users' Anxiety. How subtle spacing, thoughtful language, and intentional pacing can shape how users feel. https://lnkd.in/gu6_RqWT
Trauma-Informed Design Framework: Creating spaces that reduce stress and foster safety and healing. https://lnkd.in/ggYJQCSe
Progressive Disclosure in UX Design: Revealing information gradually so users aren't overwhelmed. https://lnkd.in/gK-_USf6 and https://lnkd.in/gUs-ySGv
Calm Technology Principles: Technology that works with human attention, not against it. https://lnkd.in/gdedvnMz