Chapter 20: Feedback & Highlighting

Effective feedback reduces errors and builds trust. Make the active item obvious, and make selection feel intentional.

Design Goals

• Clarity: the active item should be unambiguous from 1–2 meters away.
• Consistency: the same signal should mean the same thing everywhere.
• Low cognitive load: feedback should not compete with reading or comprehension.

Visual feedback

• Clear border or color highlight
• Optional scale or pulse on the active item
• Dim non-highlighted items to reduce scan noise

Avoid ambiguous color pairs (red/green) and ensure highlights pass contrast checks on light and dark backgrounds.

Auditory & tactile feedback

• Short beep per highlight
• Distinct selection sound
• Voice output of item names (auditory prompting)
• Tactile click or vibration (if available)

Keep highlight sounds short and uniform. Selection sounds can be slightly longer to confirm action without slowing timing.

Acceptance Feedback

If you use acceptance time or debounce, provide clear feedback (e.g., a brief glow or tone) so the user knows their press was registered.

Timing and Motion

• Animations should finish well within the scan delay.
• Keep transitions subtle to avoid “tracking” the animation instead of the item.
• Allow a “no motion” setting for users who are distracted by animation.