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Response Times: The 3 Important Limits
Jakob Nielsen, Nielsen Norman Group, 1993
Read the originalRead on October 17, 2026
- What it is
- A usability article that restates the three response-time limits from Jakob Nielsen's 1993 book Usability Engineering: 0.1 second, 1.0 second and 10 seconds.
- How much weight it carries
- A widely cited usability reference that draws on decades of human-computer interaction research. It describes how people perceive waits in screens, not in phone calls, so use it as a rule of thumb for flow rather than a measurement of voice agents.
Facts taken from this source
- Jakob Nielsen's response-time limits say 1.0 second is about the limit for the user's flow of thought to stay uninterrupted, although the user still notices the delay.
“1.0 second is about the limit for the user's flow of thought to stay uninterrupted, even though the user will notice the delay” (Section on the 1.0 second limit)