Pretty Loaded – a preloader museum curated by Big Spaceship

It doesn’t sound that interesting, but this site is mesmerizing. I stumbled on it the other day and realized I had just been sitting there for 15 minutes watching preloaders, one after the other.

This site made me think about how the load bar is an interesting little microcosm of design, but it really does have quite an impact. You didn’t come to this application or whatever you’re viewing to watch the load bar, you came to see the content. However, for whatever reason, it’s not instant (as much as we want everything instantaneously, we can’t always have it, you might have to wait a few seconds buddy). So, the user needs to know what’s going on, they need feedback to let them know that, yeah, you’re not getting it instantly, but look, you’re almost there. The loader is a porpose driven design aspect, but it’s also the first glimpse of what your going to get, you’re peaking in the window and if you see something interesting you might just stick around for the door to unlock.

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Listening to: Chris Isaak – Baby Did A Bad Bad Thing