Design Concept: Visibility of System Status

Good example: On Slack, a messaging app for teams, this screenshot is what displays after you login on Slack. It shows a bolded Loading…and even includes a pithy statement wishing the user a good day, which shows Slack’s fun, team personality. This allows the user to know that the system is working to load the page and various chats that we are waiting for.

Bad example: After you login on Facebook mobile, this screenshot is what shows. I see the wheel, but I have no indication of what’s happening with the system. Is it logging me in? The profile picture is extremely tiny, but additionally, if I didn’t have a profile picture, I wouldn’t even know if the system were trying to log me or another user in.

A simple fix would be adding text to display that the system is logging me in. By referring to my name and explicitly stating that the system is attempting to log me in, I know that the system is logging me in and not another user. Additionally, the wheel indicates to the system that it is working.