The Loading State Deception: How Spinning Indicators Have Misled Users for 40 Years

Summary

This article is part two of a series on building software that users don't hate. It focuses on the loading state — specifically the "spinning thing" (like the beach ball cursor) that has been used for 40 years as a way to manage user expectations during wait times. The author argues that these loading indicators are essentially tricks or lies we've told users for decades, and contrasts working code with truly good software.