User experience and speed go hand in hand. And this is where the Doherty Threshold comes into play—a principle that can transform your digital product from frustrating to fantastic.
What is the Doherty Threshold?
The Doherty Threshold is named after researcher John Doherty, who found that to keep users engaged, systems must respond to their actions within 400 milliseconds. In short, if your app or website doesn’t react fast enough, you risk losing your users’ attention and patience.
Why is it important in UX design?
Think of the times you’ve clicked something and waited... and waited... and waited. That annoying delay can cause users to give up entirely. In today’s fast-paced world, no one has time to waste. That’s why UX designers must understand and apply the Doherty Threshold to ensure a smooth and responsive user experience.
How to apply the Doherty Threshold in your design
1. Give your users immediate feedback
Many processes in your system will take longer than 400ms—even if you’ve optimized performance. So what do you do?
You optimize the perceived performance—the speed the user experiences.
That means providing immediate visual feedback to show that the system has registered the user’s action.
For example: change the state of a button the moment it’s clicked, instead of waiting until the backend finishes processing the form.
2. Use loaders and spinners to indicate something is happening
- Implement progress bars for longer processes
- Preload data when possible
If you know a user is likely to click something, preload the data in advance. Example: Netflix often preloads the first few seconds of a video, so playback starts instantly.
3. Keep users engaged while they wait
Sometimes things just take time. Even with a perfectly optimized system.
So what do you do?
One common trick is to show your users something else while they wait.
Ever seen a quote, fun fact, or mini quiz pop up while an app loads?
That’s intentional design—meant to hold your attention until the system is ready.
4. Optimize loading speeds
Let’s be honest—you can do all sorts of tricks, but nothing beats actual speed.
If your product is simply slow, you’ve got a problem.
So make performance optimization a priority:
- Use caching and asynchronous data processing
- Compress images and files
- Reduce heavy scripts and unnecessary code
Examples of the Doherty Threshold you’ve probably seen
Think of apps like Instagram and Facebook. When you like a photo or post a comment, it happens instantly. That’s not a coincidence—it’s the Doherty Threshold in action. These platforms are finely tuned to respond immediately to user input, keeping us engaged and satisfied.
Key takeaway
The Doherty Threshold is about more than just raw speed. It’s about creating intuitive and satisfying experiences for your users. By ensuring your app responds quickly, you boost engagement and reduce drop-off.
So the next time you design something, remember:
400 milliseconds can make all the difference.