For centuries, humans have pondered upon the mysteries of time. Philosophers, scientists, artists have postulated theories, designed experiments, and created art to explain the eternal conundrum of time. But beyond the various theories that lie before us, have we ever stepped out to understand how to leverage time and its various properties to influence our day to day life and experiences? Time to get beyond the constraints of science and marvels of science fiction…
Mohita Jaiswal - August 2019
What is Time?
According to the Oxford dictionary, Time is the indefinite continued progress of existence and events that occur in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, to the future. Time is used to define many other quantities like speed, on the basis of it being considered as a linear and fundamental physical quantity, which is both a property of a material and also measurable.
“Time is the measurer of all things but is itself immeasurable, and the grand disclosure of all things, but is itself undisclosed.” — Charles Caleb Colton
However, modern science and Einstein’s theory of relativity have changed the ramifications from time being a property of matter to being a dimension. Just as we can move left-or-right, forward or backward, and upwards or downwards: the three independent directions, known as spatial dimensions, time can also be considered as a fourth dimension, but of a very different type. In order to describe an event, knowing where it occurs isn’t enough; you also need to know when, which means you need to know the time coordinate. And hence time becomes the 4th dimension. This opens up new possibilities to view time in:
1. Experiencing the dimension differently
“Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute.” — Albert Einstein
Have we ever felt so, that time is moving slowly or rapidly in different situations? While common logic denies it yet science suggests that if we move near the speed of light, time will slow down for us in comparison to those who do not.
This points us to the ideas of timelessness (where time slows down) and time contraction (where time seems to pass very quickly). This can be a precious idea while designing for people who demand a timeless user experience or time-constrained ones. For those who are starved of time in their lives or those who would want time not to end, it can be a box of openings.
2. Traveling through the dimension:
“The distinction between the past, present and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion” — Albert Einstein
We could only travel through other spatial dimensions and time travel used to be thought of as just science fiction, but Einstein’s general theory of relativity allows for the possibility that we could warp space-time so much that you could go off in a rocket and return before you set out, moving back and forth through past, present and future.
Although not everyone fancies being a traveler of time (for what and how it might impact the present), yet it has intrigued many hugely. If experiences allow us to gain insights from the past and prepare us through visualizing predictions of the future, would we be people with greater perspectives to channelize our actions towards working for the best?
3. Being in different spaces at the same time dimension
“Time is what keeps everything from happening at once.” — Ray Cummings
We all realize that to move through space requires motion through time; if you’re here, now, you cannot be somewhere else now as well, you can only get there later.
Omnipresence is a concept that has often been associated with god. However, technology has brought us to a place where we use omni (in all ways or places) in a lot of our terminologies. Technology has already reduced the barriers of communication and interconnection. Designing experiences that can further simulate users to feel as if they are in different places at the same time could herald a new era altogether.
How Can We Use Time to Design Better Experiences?
Socially, time has often been equated with money.
How people use their time and the time which is allocated to different activities has been widely researched and debated from the perspective of human behavior, sociology, education and anthropology. Time usage has changed with technology, as television and the internet have created new opportunities to use time in different ways. How much time to be utilized at work, at home, in travel, etc., has led to numerous theories, models, and tools being made on how humans could plan and manage their time best.
While time is also increasingly becoming the basis of business models. SAAS (Software as a service), time-based content subscriptions, and co-renting spaces where you pay for the time subscribed to a service or a product/material have become commonplace.
In such an atmosphere, thinking from the wider perspectives and frames of time, could help one reap the greater time value of money.
Why Perception of Time Is an Important Factor in Digital Design
There is a significant and often underestimated gap between the actual amount of time a system takes to complete a task and how long that wait “feels” to the user. This gap is the core problem of perception of time in UX design, and it is one of the most important factors determining whether a user stays or abandons.
Research in human-computer interaction has consistently shown that response time directly shapes how users assess product quality. A 100ms delay is imperceptible; a 1-second delay disrupts flow; anything beyond 10 seconds loses attention entirely without active feedback. But these are thresholds for “actual” time. Perceived response time is a different variable altogether and it is the one designers have real power over.
Consider two identical 5-second loading screens: one blank, one with a progress bar and a contextual label. Users consistently rate the latter as significantly faster, even when the clock shows the same elapsed time. The perception of time does not track the clock. It tracks confidence, engagement, and whether the system appears to be in control.
This is why managing perception of time is not just a performance concern — it is a core UX design discipline.
How AI Is Rewriting the Amount of Time Users Experience
- Streaming text beats blank waits: Showing a generative response built incrementally, even if slower than a full response, keeps users cognitively engaged and reduces the perceived amount of time significantly.
- Skeleton screens set expectations: Pre-rendering the structural shell of a response while content loads is one of the most effective human-computer interaction techniques for reducing impatience in AI-heavy interfaces.
- Animate thoughtfully: Loop-based spinners are the weakest option. Gradient and animation-based indicators are both measurably better at managing the perception of time and achieve the highest system usability scores.
The core principle of UX design and time hasn’t changed: users aren’t waiting for data, they’re waiting for a signal that the system is reliable. AI makes that signal more complex to design but no less critical.
Ask Yourself This When Building A Digital Product:
- How can the experience seem timeless to the customer, everlasting, and extremely valuable (giving more value than for the time it is accrued), such that it doesn’t seem to end?
- How can experiences be perceived as quick for time-starved audiences? For example, so deeply engaging that time seems to move quickly for them?
- How can one make the user experience time travel by allowing users to gain from the insights of the past and the forewarnings of the future, to manage time more effectively?
- How can the user experience being in different positions at the same time? How can the user increase their capacity to affect different things at the same time?
- Where in your product does actual response time and perceived response time diverge most and what design intervention would close that gap?
- If your product uses AI-generated outputs, what does the loading state communicate to the user right now and does it signal reliability or uncertainty?
