Skeleton Screens 101

A skeleton screen is used as a placeholder while users wait for a page to load. This progress indicator is used for full page loads and reduces the perception of a long loading time by providing clues for how the page will ultimately look.

Nielsen Norman Group

@inautilo I disagree that you should not use a skeleton screen if the load time is sub-1-second. There are many places where having the general structure of the dynamically loaded element is helpful for you to build out that mental model.

Some quick examples: a drop-down that shows a 3-4 item skeleton gives a visual indicator of where each button sits.

A card element takes up a discrete amount of space on-page, and a skeleton screen would prevent content shifting when the content loads.