Best practices for blinking
Nothing says hi-tech and advanced like blinking lights. Everyone loves blinking lights. However, much like many other features that we have seen, blinking can be as much a curse as it can be a blessing. When used properly, blinking can be used to indicate an emergency (such as an issue that could cause harm to personnel or property) or it could mean that a job is loaded and ready to go. In either case, blinking is distracting.
If you blink a component such as an LED, button, popup, or whatever, you need to be aware that this action will take the operator’s attention away from the controls and put their focus on the blinking component. For some things such as issues or emergencies, this is welcomed. However, blinking components for the sake of blinking components is bad. Generally, I will only blink a component under the following conditions:
- Machine malfunctions
- Safety-related issues (open door, safety sensor tripped, etc.)
- E-stop...