I don’t remember hearing the idea of ‘radical transparency’ being applied directly to user interface or user experience before, but I like it.

Glad then to have found an episode of 99% Invisible that I somehow missed from 2019: Wait Wait… Tell Me! which weaves it in very nicely.

Well worth a listen (and a good first episode to get into 99PI if you’re not already familiar).

The episode begins with derelict houses in Detroit, and the frustrations of local residents wanting to know what’s happening to them, and when. A great real world lens to then shift from, for talking mostly about digital user experiences and helpful interventions.

Most notably, loading icons and progress bars. I love this description from Angus Chen for the emotions involved before and after encountering a necessary period of waiting:

There are so many instances where we wait and think, “What the hell is happening?” but with this kind of transparency, we see people’s efforts and we appreciate them more. We see why we’re waiting and waiting becomes less of a chore.

It’s funny listening to this now, 5 years after it was made, and thinking how far we still have to go with making more waiting experiences bearable, or even understandable.

Funny too that they discuss this fact back then.

Roman Mars: Even though there has been this innovation and evolution and more transparency when it comes to loading icons, some of them are still pretty opaque and pretty awful!

Angus Chen: right we still have things like loading spinners including the most reviled loading icon of all time: the spinning wheel of death, or as I like to call it, the candy land toilet of time!

…and the reason why everybody hates it is because this is the most opaque loading icon that you could probably possibly design. It just doesn’t tell you anything.

Pretty opaque and pretty awful. Still a good description of most services and UX, sadly.