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I personally don't mind spinners. They're an explicit indication that something's going on and I should wait. For me, skeletons look more confusing, as if the a
by kgeist 5y ago
I personally don't mind spinners. They're an explicit indication that something's going on and I should wait. For me, skeletons look more confusing, as if the app is broken: I can see the layout, but everything is empty for some unknown reason and I can't interact with it. Is it loading or just broken? How is the user going to tell? The only issue I have with spinners is when a spinner keeps spinning forever with no feedback because there's an error hidden somewhere in the JS console and the devs forgot to add an error popup. So you are waiting and waiting and nothing happens, and you don't know it's all been just a waste of time.
- yreg 5y agoSkeletons often have a shimmer effect that indicates that the content is loading. I don't see much difference between them. A skeleton loader is functionally a spinner that in a clear way reserves the space for the component being loaded.
- exodust 5y ago> in a clear way Skeletons are less clear because broken or missing things on a page can sometimes look like skeletons. Loading spinners never look broken or ambiguous. I don't think it really matters. Skeletons might be better for the type of layout, and loading spinners shouldn't be overused. Skeletons shouldn't be overused either. The article is strongly opinionated that loading spinners are just bad full stop. I doubt that claim. They are universally recognised even more than hamburger menu icons.