Feedback should appear at the user's attentional focus
Aliases: spatial proximity · local feedback · feedback location · gaze-contingent feedback
What it is
Feedback spatial proximity means that a visible result of a local action appears where people are looking, acting, or expect the result to occur. After clicking an item, gaze normally remains on it and its neighborhood; during dragging, attention follows the object and destination. Nearby confirmation, error, or state change can be attributed without an additional scan. This does not mean every message must sit by the pointer; location should match the task’s current attentional focus.
Why it happens
Visual attention is spatially selective, and shifting gaze costs time and working memory. When people must search a top bar, corner, or distant notification area after a local action, they can miss feedback, forget the trigger, or misattribute another change. Spatial and temporal closeness jointly support causal attribution; breaking either can make a system feel unresponsive. In dense workspaces, proximity also avoids repetitive scanning between data and state areas.
Studying it
Compare local, remote, and global feedback with eye tracking, recording, or pointer trajectories. Measure time to first notice, misses, correct interpretation, duplicate action, and task recovery. Include scrolling, tables, canvases, and mobile keyboards, where focus and viewport change. Asking “did you see the message?” is insufficient; after an unprompted action, ask what happened to establish whether feedback integrated into the task.
Where it stops holding
Local feedback does not suit every event. Account-wide changes, cross-page synchronization, background completion, and safety risks may need stable system locations for traceability and to avoid covering work. A tiny region, finger occlusion, or a scrolling-away target may require a nearby but visible alternative. Stacking all messages at an action point obscures content and creates noise.
Applying it
- Map expected result locations and actual viewing areas for each action; anchor local success, failure, and pending states there.
- Test whether feedback remains in the viewport and unoccluded by keyboard, finger, or layer in scroll containers, canvases, and mobile contexts.
- Put global consequence in a stable, reviewable place, but first leave a concise local acknowledgement that links to it.
- Use unprompted result recall: people should immediately say what happened. If they must search notification chrome, feedback is too remote.