I agree with you in general that it is a balancing act, but if you're going to have a modal interface (normal law, alternate law) and the plane's flight control

I agree with you in general that it is a balancing act, but if you're going to have a modal interface (normal law, alternate law) and the plane's flight controls are going to perform differently depending upon that mode, an indicator of which mode you're in is immensely important in any situation.