The most often
repeated, phrase written by software programmers must be "please
wait" or "please be patient". It is almost impossible to use your computer on a regular basis and
not see these phrases multiple times per day.
It is basically an
instruction from an anonymous source telling you, the user, what you should be
doing at some point in time. And it is presumptuous at best.
Progress bars, task counters, percentage complete counters, log entries along with words about what is happening
and reasonable estimates of how long it will take are welcome and useful. Other
indications of progress, like which file is being processed are reassuring and informative. Animated GIFs are NOT useful or wanted.
What I, as the user
care, to do while some computer process is running is really none of the
programmer's concern. I could take a break, get a cup of coffee, use some other
computer application, use yet another computer etc. You get the idea.
If I never see the
words "please wait/be patient" ever again, it will be too soon.
