Progress Bar Effects as a Time Clue for the Touch-Sensitive User Interface of a Smart Microwave Oven

This research study focuses on the design of the interface affordance for microwave ovens as smart home appliances, with time perception as the main axis. It explores the effect of the progress bar designs as time cues on the user’s time perception. The experiment is a within-subjects design using one-way ANOVA to examine the three different operation modes, i.e., traditional, touch, and smart. These experimental data were obtained through task performance and subjective evaluation. The results indicate that: 1. The number of time clues affect the user’s time perception, and there is a significant difference in the main effect of operation modes. 2. Users can quickly understand the task process with high time affordance, reduce their perception uncertainty, and effectively enhance their sense of pleasure. 3. There is significant difference in the main effect of operation modes, with the “smart” type taking the least amount of time. 4. The convenient, fast, and intuitive “smart” type with reduction of load has a positive impact on the user’s subjective evaluation.