Strategies for minimizing app start time

[PeterPanettone 157]

I call the time the user has to wait from double-clicking the app program file until the app window becomes visible AND usable the "App Start Time" (AST). If I want to minimize AST, there are different strategies:

 

1. Instantiate secondary forms dynamically at run-time and not before the user needs that form. The time needed for such dynamic instantiation during the app's run-time usually is neglectable.

 

2. During AST, show the user a funny animated splash-screen to entertain him, so he becomes unaware of the passing time.

 

Does anybody know of other such strategies?

[Der schöne Günther 316]

Use a profiler to find out what takes time and fix those parts 😎

[PeterPanettone 157]

10 minutes ago, Der schöne Günther said:

Use a profiler to find out what takes time and fix those parts 😎

Although that is a good idea, I am unsure whether this could be categorized as a "strategy."

Edited October 26, 2021 by PeterPanettone

[Attila Kovacs 629]

move the splash screen randomly to 0,0 (topleft) corner and show it blurry for no reason

[PeterPanettone 157]

26 minutes ago, Attila Kovacs said:

move the splash screen randomly to 0,0 (topleft) corner and show it blurry for no reason

Are you sure that would entertain the user?

[Stano 143]

Probably like point 2.

[PeterPanettone 157]

2 hours ago, Attila Kovacs said:

move the splash screen randomly to 0,0 (topleft) corner and show it blurry for no reason

I have already tried that. But users say it's not entertaining.

[corneliusdavid 214]

Have you ever used Discord? When it starts or is loading something that takes a few seconds, it displays a series of funny "status" messages, similar to the ones I found here: https://gist.github.com/meain/6440b706a97d2dd71574769517e7ed32

 

If you can't minimize the ASP time but want to entertain the user, that might be a simple and fun way to do it.

[Uwe Raabe 2057]

5 minutes ago, corneliusdavid said:

If you can't minimize the ASP time but want to entertain the user, that might be a simple and fun way to do it.

Sounds to me like chasing the wrong rabbit.

[corneliusdavid 214]

1 minute ago, Uwe Raabe said:

Sounds to me like chasing the wrong rabbit.

Well, it seemed to be the direction the conversation was going--and I was adding to the 2nd suggestion of the OP.

[corneliusdavid 214]

On a more serious note, I often use a ListBox or something and show the types of things that are being loaded which are taking time, such as opening datasets or connecting to a remote resource. Not only does it inform the user of what is happening but also might show (visually) where the bottlenecks are when there's a pause in the scrolling list of activities.

[corneliusdavid 214]

I read an article years ago about how office workers complained of the slow speed of elevators in a tall building, especially at 8:00 in the morning when everyone was arriving for work. Without changing anything with the elevators at all, the building owners simply installed big mirrors in the lobby and the complaints nearly stopped.

 

A lot of times, it's just a distraction that is needed or visual activity which gives the impatient user a feeling like there's something going on and significantly reduces the stress of waiting.

[PeterPanettone 157]

16 minutes ago, corneliusdavid said:

Have you ever used Discord? When it starts or is loading something that takes a few seconds, it displays a series of funny "status" messages, similar to the ones I found here: https://gist.github.com/meain/6440b706a97d2dd71574769517e7ed32

These are really funny. 

[PeterPanettone 157]

9 minutes ago, corneliusdavid said:

On a more serious note, I often use a ListBox or something and show the types of things that are being loaded which are taking time, such as opening datasets or connecting to a remote resource. Not only does it inform the user of what is happening but also might show (visually) where the bottlenecks are when there's a pause in the scrolling list of activities.

That's a good idea!