# The Race to Performant Application: Designing Time and Flow

DevFeed: [The Race to Performant Application: Designing Time and Flow](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/the-race-to-performant-application-designing-time-and-flow-30426.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://www.mdubakov.com/posts/time-flow/>)

Published: 2009-05-26T15:41:57Z

Content type: opinion

Language: en

Sources: [Blog by Michael Dubakov](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/blog-by-michael-dubakov.md>)

Topics: [Software](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/software.md>), [Usability](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/usability.md>), [User interface design](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/ui-design.md>), [User Experience](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/user-experience.md>), [Agile](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/agile.md>)

Tags: [agile](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/agile.md>), [complexity](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/complexity.md>), [required](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/required.md>), [software](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/software.md>), [ui](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/ui.md>), [usability](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/usability.md>), [user-experience](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/user-experience.md>)

## AI overview

The article argues that software products should prioritize simplicity, performance, and usability instead of continually adding features, functions, and settings. Drawing on Steven C. Seow's book, it discusses Hick-Hyman Law, perceptible performance improvements, and the importance of preserving user flow.

## Source excerpt

Fact: Complexity causes 50% of product returns Fast and easy-to-use applications are quite rare. Simplicity and Performance are two major properties of any killer software product. We, as software developers, should pay attention to these properties as non-functional requirements, but in real life we often tend to implement more features, more functions, more settings, more, more, more... The race is hard to win with this strategy along the whole way. I must confess we've done almost the same to TargetProcess. We went on with providing more and more features and options. Definitely we tried to keep the application simple and fast, but these goals were secondary. We've stopped. And changed. Now we are focusing on better performance and usability. We think that TargetProcess is a quite feature-rich application that fulfills most needs in agile project management. It is time to stop and find answers to the questions: "Where do people get stuck with our software?", "What is complex and how it can be simplified?", "How to make TargetProcess enjoyable to use?", "How to make TargetProcess the most performant software in our niche?". The questions are hard to answer and address quickly, but we are looking for the answers. Steven C. Seow wrote an excellent book about principles that should be taken into consideration for any "performant" application Designing and Engineering Time: The Psychology of Time Perception in Software. I read it and want to share some interesting observations. Hick-Hyman Law describes the time it takes for a person to make a decision as a result of the possible choices he or she has. Simply speaking, less functions -- simpler and faster choice. It leads to several conclusions what we should do as software developers: Minimize options. Obviously, if you have 50 elements on the screen, it takes time to choose which action is required. If you have 20, the UI is faster to work with. Keep it simple. Well, it is a general principle for all the facets of agile