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Principle 3visibility

Align feedback with the user’s level of attention

The system should calibrate the depth and frequency of feedback according to whether the user is actively engaged, passively monitoring, or temporarily absent.

Key Facts

Cluster
visibility
Primary risk
The system becomes either excessively opaque or unnecessarily burdensome.
Related examples
6 library examples
Doctrine library
Internal doctrine reference
Why does this principle matter?

Not all moments require the same degree of visibility. Some activities require detailed understanding, while others require only reassurance and exception handling. Effective systems distinguish between these modes.

Support both foreground and background modes of engagement.
Reduce unnecessary operational noise for routine work.
Increase detail where risk, uncertainty, or required intervention rises.
Escalate clearly when user attention is materially required.
What failure does this principle prevent?

The system becomes either excessively opaque or unnecessarily burdensome.

AI as interface embellishment: A conventional product is given a text input and labelled intelligent, without any meaningful change in operational model.
Simulated autonomy: The system appears autonomous in language or presentation but cannot act with meaningful independence.
Opaque execution: Work occurs in the background without adequate status, accountability, or recoverability.
How do I apply this in practice?

The implementation library contains inspectable, runnable examples that show this principle applied in real agentic product code. Study the source paths, library choices, and runtime assumptions — not just the pattern name.

Implementation example

Mem0 Cloud Quickstart

Runnable example (beginner) for script using mem0, mem0ai. (script · beginner)

Inspect implementation

Implementation example

Mem0 Oss Quickstart

Runnable example (beginner) for script using mem0, mem0ai. (script · beginner)

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Implementation example

Email Example

Runnable example (intermediate) for script using mem0, python-dotenv. (script · intermediate)

Inspect implementation

Related examples