Between the two, I'd side with real-time graphical updates. That's the more straightforward way to indicate to the player that something is happening because of what they are doing.
I will state again, that the sliding mechanic seems to present more opportunities for misuse rather than good use at this point.
Unless there are consequences for not doing something right, don't needlessly complicate them. For example, if the airlock could be jammed or the wrong sequence could eject you out into space, then could make sense to have some kind of sliding puzzle... as long as the slide