Projects/Usability/HIG/SOU Workspace/Status Bar

A status bar is an area at the bottom of a window that can be used to display brief information about the status of the application.

Selecting the right information

Use statusbars for information that is

• Relevant to the current user in the current situation
• Not critical (i.e. information that does not need immediate response)

Examples:

• General information about the document or application. For example, current connection status in a network application, or the size of the current document in a text editor.
• Progress of a background operation. For example, "Sending to printer", "Printing page 10 of 20", "Printing Complete".
• Information about the task the user is currently performing. For example, while using the selection tool in a drawing application, "Hold Shift to extend the selection"
• A description of the control or area of the window under the mouse pointer. For example, "Drop files here to upload them"

Do not use status bars for

• Information that most users won't need while using the application. Put that information in a log file or display it in a dialog on demand.
• Critical information to which users need to respond in order to complete their task or avoid loosing any work. Display critical information in a dialog instead. Users may miss information displayed in a status bar and some novice users might not even notice the status bar at all.

Examples:

• Information about routine checks (unless something - non-critical - has happened)

• An error that occured while fetching a file from the internet that is needed for the task at hand
• An error that occured while trying to save a file

Status bar layout

• Disply status messages on the left end of the status bar