Feedback can be triggered by something the user does, or show what is going on in a system. When you choosing among types of feedback, ask yourself what triggers the feedback, is it crucial or can it be disregarded, and if you want the user to take any action.

1. User action feedback

These types of feedback are triggered by something the user does. The Errors in forms makes the user aware that something is wrong with what they have written or chosen, or they have forgotten something. The toast notifications can be used for communicating the outcome of for example new settings, statuses, connections or transactions.

Related

• Component: Toast notification
• Pattern: Forms (errors)

2. Status

These components communicates the status in the system, and can be triggered by the system itself or by a user action that changes the status of the system. They can communicate anything from friendly messages about new opening hours or the download status of a file, to important information, such as you have a contract to sign or there is a technical error.

Related

• Components: Alert ribbons, Progress bar (determinate version), Progress indicator, Badge,
• Patterns: Empty states

3. Loader components

These components gives the feedback to the user that “we are working on it” but we don’t know how long it will take to load the content. If we are sure that something will always take a certain amount of time, it can be combined with informative messages in a modal.

Related

• Components: Skeleton loader, Spinner, Progress bar (indeterminate version)
• Patterns: Confirmation, Loaders