Need for Speed

I have always wondered how Google decided on 10 for the number of results they show on the first page. Contrary to intuition, it was not driven by paradox of choice but speed instead. 10 results were half a second faster than 30. Speed (a.k.a. Latency) is the time between an action and its response. It has been an important contributer to Google's success. It also helped put Google Maps on the map. Powered by Ajax, Google Maps, provided instant gratification, unheard of in web applications. Speed has also been the secret sauce behind many innovate user interfaces (PicLens, SearchMe, etc.). I love it, when some sites have started giving instant feedback, when creating a new login, if the user-id is already taken or the password is weak. The flip side is also true. Users are sensitive to slow applications. Glue, a recent search innovation by Yahoo, got some media coverage, and already got some user comments pick up on its speed. Simply tells how sensitive users have gotten to speed. But then there are applications to which we are more tolerant. Content sites belong to that group. We are still alright if they take longer to load but we want applications such as search and maps to be instantaneous. Why is that so? I would suggest our need for speed is a function of the frequency of interaction and usage. Wikipedia articles are mainly consumed not interacted with but search is an iterative process.

So what does speed mean to sites that thrive on user-generated content? I think there is something deep here. Instant feedback boosts learning. Instant feedback can motivate users to contribute more and improve quality. Won't you love if you got a response to your question in no time? Won't you want to post to such a forum more often? Surprisingly, no Q&A site I know, measures the average time between a question and its answer and then advertises this information to end-users. Measuring for speed is the first step towards optimizing it. Its only then you will search creative ways to increase speed. If the size of each transaction is reduced the number of transactions can go up. Not only will you increase more contributions from the same user but increase the number of users who contribute. Did micro-blogging succeed because its easily available or by reducing the size of the posts they were able to increase the frequency and the number of posts? Instant feedback also is a driver of quality. If my blog had many readers, I would be more driven towards high-quality posts. Instant feedback can take many forms, a simple vote counter, nevertheless, finding creative ways to increase speed in user-generated content applications can be very rewarding.