As the status indicator of system programs, loading icons have a significant role in human–computer interaction. This study explored the effect of the visual presentation of mobile application loading icons on users' time perception and emotion. The two variables adopted in this experiment were the type of loading icons and the animation frequencies. Three types of loading icons were used: circle type, aligned dots type, and logo type. Four frequencies were chosen: 3 Hz, 2 Hz, 1.5 Hz, and 1 Hz (changing every 333 ms, 500 ms, 666 ms, and 1000 ms). Theories related to subjective temporal experience and the three-dimensional emotion model of pleasure-arousal-dominance were utilized in this experiment to measure the user's time perception and emotion comprehensively. The experiment in this study was a 3x4 within-subject design. A total of 67 university students aged 18–26 participated in this experiment. The results showed that users' time perception and emotions were influenced by icon types and animation frequencies. Users who experience logo type icons were more inclined to generate positive evaluations. Loading icons with higher animation frequency had more positive user perception evaluation, but for more complex icons, excessively high animation frequency probably led to a negative visual experience. These findings might help improve the waiting experience of users when using the applications.

中文翻译：

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移动应用程序加载图标类型和动画频率对用户时间感知和情绪的影响

加载图标作为系统程序的状态指示器，在人机交互中具有举足轻重的作用。本研究探讨了移动应用程序加载图标的视觉呈现对用户时间感知和情感的影响。本实验采用的两个变量是加载图标的类型和动画频率。使用了三种类型的加载图标：圆形类型、对齐点类型和徽标类型。选择了四种频率：3 Hz、2 Hz、1.5 Hz 和 1 Hz（每 333 ms、500 ms、666 ms 和 1000 ms 改变一次）。本实验利用主观时间体验相关理论和愉悦-唤醒-支配的三维情感模型来综合衡量用户的时间感知和情感。本研究中的实验是 3x4 受试者内设计。共有 67 名 18-26 岁的大学生参与了这项实验。结果表明，用户的时间感知和情绪受到图标类型和动画频率的影响。体验过徽标类型图标的用户更倾向于产生积极的评价。加载动画频率较高的图标具有更积极的用户感知评价，但对于更复杂的图标，过高的动画频率可能会导致负面的视觉体验。这些发现可能有助于改善用户使用应用程序时的等待体验。