Visualizing Power Mode: The Impact of Battery-Saving Indicators on User Behavior During Intensive Mobile Interactions

Abstract: As mobile devices have become an essential part of daily activities, managing battery efficiency while maintaining a positive user experience (UX) has become increasingly critical. Although many battery-saving strategies have been proposed and integrated into the battery-saving mode of mobile devices, effects of the user interface (UI) design that communicate battery-saving status with users remain underexplored. In this work, we investigated how different visual representations of battery-saving indicators influence user behavior during intensive mobile interactions. We designed three versions of UI indicator for battery saving, with varying levels of statistical details. Through a between-subjects user study with asking 36 participants to complete a series of intensive tasks on a mobile phone with limited battery, we examined behavioral and perceptual outcomes across different designs under both regular and extreme battery-saving modes. Our findings show that real-time saving statistics improve battery-saving efficiency and reduce the likelihood of users turning off the saving mode under moderate performance degradation. However, when performance drops significantly, the same indicators may bring frustration and lead to reduced engagement with the saver. With the lessons learned, we discuss the implications of designing visual indicators for battery-saving mode in different interaction scenarios.