This technique provides a visual representation of a user interface’s layout while content is loading. Imagine placeholder shapes, often grayed-out rectangles or circles, mimicking the eventual placement of text, images, and other elements. It serves as a temporary substitute, signaling to the user that data is actively being fetched and the screen is not frozen.
Implementing this approach offers several advantages. It enhances the perceived performance of an application, reducing user frustration by indicating responsiveness even during network latency. Furthermore, it improves the overall user experience by creating a more visually appealing and engaging loading state compared to a blank screen or a generic loading spinner. Historically, the adoption of this method arose from the need to provide better feedback in increasingly complex and data-rich mobile applications.
