Definition:–

An object's function should be visible so that people can see what it is currently doing and see what buttons or
controls are available. Visibility can also be made available through the use of sound or through touch with for
example different textures, shapes or vibrations. The important thing here is that the visibility is recognisable rather
than having to rely on recall.

Description

Toaster
For this toaster in the picture the side handles that are used
to lower the toast in front of the heating elements
are up meaning that there is no toast in it. Clearly visible,
from anywhere in the room.
When the bread is placed in it the handles are pushed down
and the top of the bread can be seen. More importantly, the
handles are down, clearly indicating that the toaster is
toasting so that the person can go about his/her business,
making coffee etc. and occasionally glance over and see
what is happening.
When the toast pops up, so do the handles and the toast is
half out of the toaster and usually the popping up action of
the toaster is noisey. This noise adds to it’s visibility. It
would be unwise for a toaster manufacturers to change this
process because each stage of the toast making process is
clearly visible and this is good because people like toast in
the morning and they are not fully alert so the process has
to be simple and the processes clearly visible.
Image Source:http://www.appliancist.com/small_appliances/4-slice-toaster-
delonghi.html last accessed 09.10.10

Joystick
In the eighties with the rise gaming on home computers
such as the BBC micro, the Commodore 64 and the ZX
Spectrum there became a need for something other than
the keyboard to control the game character on the screen.
Using the keyboard was difficult. Which key makes the
character go forward, which one for back and which ones for
left and right, and then more importantly which one for
shooting something?. Well actually the fire button was
usually the spacebar which was the easiest to use.
The image shows the archetypal joystick designed to solve
these problems and replicate what gamers were using in the
arcades.
Moving the joystick makes it so easy that the gamer can
now concentrate on getting immersed in the game. It also
opens up the audience to a wider age range. For example
the gamer’s grandparents and 4 year old brother can have a
go too.
The visibility is in the movements of the joystick. The
movements do exactly what is expected to happen on
screen.
Image
Source:http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Joystick_black_red_petri_01.svg
last accessed 09.10.10

Google Pagination
When conducting a search using Google there can be alot of
results. At the bottom of the page below the first 10 results
is the pagination.
The pagination shows that there are more pages, shows
which page you are on and that you can move to the next
or previous page. The image shows that page 3 is being
displayed, but it would be easy to jump to page 10 or back
to page 1 by clicking on that particular number.
This type of pagination has become a convention to replace
incredibly long scrolling because what is happening and
what is about to happen is incredibly visible.
Image Source:www.google.com last accessed 09.10.10

Source: Preece, J., Rogers, Y., Sharp, H. (2002), Interaction Design: Beyond Human-Computer Interaction, New
York: Wiley, p.21
Visibility – The more visible functions are, the more likely users will be able to know what to do next. Incontrast,
when functions are "out of sight," it makes them more difficult to find and know how to use.