Splash screens are evil! 8 ways to improve them.

Ok, perhaps evil is too strong a word, but ideally splash screens should not be needed. They represent a failure on the part of the development team to make an application that can load fast enough that the user isn't left wondering what happened when they double click its icon. The best case is to make the program load fast enough that it's not needed. As a developer, I realize minimizing application start-up time can be a really hard problem, possibly hard enough that it's not worth the resources to invest in this area of optimization.

Faced with this reality, here are some guidelines, splash screen etiquette if you will, to make it less obnoxious. These are things I've come up with as a user of many different software packages over the years within the context of having done a fair bit of reading in the area of user interaction and experience. I find it interesting that after a bit of searching on the topic, both on the web and in some dead-tree resources, I have found many people talking about splash screens' visual design but no one describing their functionality.

1. Not centered: that's where I'm working!

I typically have a minimum of three applications open. Quite frequently I have two or three times that number. When I start an application, the odds are I have something else I'm working on, and want to continue working on, while the new application is starting. The center of the screen is where my focus is normally going to be for those other applications. Therefore, the center of the screen is the worst place the splash screen can go. It's going to be right in the way of my doing anything else.

2. Not modal: I'm trying to do something else.

The splash screen should should not be system modal. I am working on something else while the new application tries to get going. There is no reason to think the splash screen is more important than what I'm working on. The splash screen should not ever cover up my current work.

3. Not focused: I'm not typing to you.

The starting application should not grab focus unless no other application has it. If another application has focus, it should maintain it. If I'm typing, I'm not typing into the not yet started application, I'm typing to the existing application. (Microsoft Office Outlook team, do you hear me?!?)

4. Not too big: you're not that important.

All the splash screen needs to do is tell me it's working. To do this it just needs a small, unobtrusive animation. I'm willing to give splash screens 5% of my screen. If it can't let me know it's there in a 300 x 300 pixel box, the designers need to rethink what they're trying to do. Ideally, I should be able to size it to the dimensions I want, including minimized.

5. Not fixed: I want that space.

Even when it's not centered, I should still be able to move it where I want it so it's out of the way. No matter where the designers set it by default, there is always going to be the case where, for someone, that location is in the way. Make the silly thing movable, like any other window on my system.

6. Not default: remember what I've told you.

After I've told you where and how big, remember it! Next time I start the application, odds are my system is going to be about the same configuration. I've gone through the hassle of moving it and sizing it; I shouldn't have to do it again tomorrow.

7. Not a non-task: be on the task bar.

The splash screen should cause a button to appear on the task bar; preferably the same button that will be used by the main form when it finally appears. This way, one of the sizes I can give it (see #4 above) is minimized. This allows me to know the application is starting without it having to take any of my precious screen space.

8. Not needed: delay initialization.

Finally, the ideal is to not need a splash screen at all. Consider making the main form visible immediately with things disabled. As modules are loaded and initialized, then build the form and enable the various areas for the user.