Resource Bar

Definition

Once a player has chosen to harvest resources from land they own, the Resource Bar will show how long they have to wait until that resource is available to sell to the Chief.
The Resource Bar provides a quick guide to the player on how long they will have to wait, as well as showing the time in weeks or days until the harvesting process is complete. The “Harvest Time” is how long it takes a section of land to produce the appropriate resource, for example how long it takes a Farm to produce Grain.

The Resource Bar makes it easy for you to see how long is left until your lands can provide resources, and which are currently in use for harvesting.
Avoid watching the Resource Bar until harvesting is finished, as you’ll soon be harvesting from several different locations simultaneously to meet the Chief’s requirements.
If other players need resources you’re harvesting the Resource Bar makes it easy to estimate how long it will be before you can Sell those resources to them.
As your Skill Level increases you’ll see that the Resource Bar progresses more quickly, reflecting the increased ability of your subtribe to harvest resources from the land.

The Resource Bar makes the delay clear between a player instructing their ERM to harvest a resource, and the resource becoming available. How do players manage that short amount of time while waiting? Highlight good or practice in this fast-paced game.
The Resource Bar helps players manage many harvesting tasks simultaneously, examine how they use this to their advantage while making quick decisions.
Chief Offers are specifically designed to overlay the screen, which prevents players from examining their current harvesting situation before committing to the Chief. In-between other actions do the players monitor their Resource Bars so they’ve an up to date understanding of which offers they should take?
The way that Resource Bars are presented is part of the ERM’s design in being useful to players, but not perfect - it soon becomes impossible to watch all active Resource Bars simultaneously. How would players redesign the ERM? How does this reflect the presentation of live information within their own organization?
Evivve the game provides opportunities to discuss cognitive load, when harvesting becomes sufficiently quick can players drop the habit of monitoring resource bars and seeing to other tasks?

The Resource Bar provides useful feedback to new players that their harvesting process has begun.
As with other aspects of the ERM, the presentation of the Resource Bar isn’t perfect, and no options are available to players to consume that information in a different manner. This can be useful in showing how clear user interfaces need to be for busy operators, under high cognitive load, to focus on pertinent information.
The Resource Bar provides a very small scale example of players going through the AFERR process, as they consider how harvesting will help their aims, whether they can harvest the resource in time to satisfy any current or forthcoming Chief Offers, and then reflect on how well each harvesting decision played out.

Some players will learn the rhythm of Resource Bars quickly, potentially not needing to refer to them before the end of their first game, which others will need them as a reminded of recent harvesting decisions. Be mindful of how different players respond to this aspect of the interface.
The Resource Bar being a sufficient interface, and not ideal, can feel purely like a poor design choice. As this is a professional exercise, ensure the reason for not making all countdowns and progressions clear from the beginning is explained.