The Need for SpeedHow App Performance Impacts User Behavior

The old two-second guideline has long been surpassed on the racetrack of Web expectations. Eric Horvitz, Scientist Microsoft’s Research Labs

The Need for Speed is Accelerating

It used to be that two seconds was fast enough. In 2009, a study by Forrester Research found that online shoppers expected pages to load in two seconds or fewer — and at three seconds, a large share would abandon the site.

Recently, experts in human-computer interaction have declared the two-second rule obsolete. They say two seconds is too slow.

In 2012, Google engineers revealed that people will visit a Website less often if it is slower than a close competitor by more than 250 milliseconds — less than the blink of an eye.

Just two years later, studies revealed that introducing a mere 500-millisecond network delay increases user frustration by 25%.

Expectations for Apps are High

Increasingly, mobile users are migrating away from Web browsers to apps. Neilson’s Cross Platform Report in March 2014 revealed that 89% of time spent on media on a smartphone is now spent on apps, while only 11% is spent on the mobile Web.

89%Time Mobile Users Spent on Apps

11%Time Mobile Users Spent on the Web

Almost unbelievably, mobile users’ expectations for apps are higher than they are for the Web. If your app isn’t fast enough, users are happy to give your competitor’s app a try.

84% of users will abandon an app if it fails more than twice.

As a result, 20% of apps are used once and then abandoned.

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To solve the problems associated slow mobile apps we need a new category of service — one that provides users with the content they want, when and where they want it — even in traditionally tricky venues like sports arenas or train stations.

To learn more about how a Mobile Delivery Network can help you thrill your users, visit:

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