Visibility of system status

The visibility of system status refers to how well a system's state is conveyed to users. An ideal system should always keep users informed about what is going on through appropriate feedback within a reasonable time.

Visibility of system status heuristic means it’s important for users to understand what’s happening when they take an action. Giving immediate feedback on actions is vital to achieving this end. When users take an action and expect something to happen, they need to be informed of the status of that action. Feedback should be immediate and could be done via graphics, animations, or sounds.

There are 4 possible feedback types a good system should provide:

• What has just happened?
• Where am I?
• What is happening?
• What will happen next?