Re: UI/String Review - Day 1

[Thomas Vander Stichele <thomas apestaart org>]

> If you consider the computer should assume it, then the dialog is not
> doing anything at all and can be safely removed.
> 
> > Yes it is a destructive action.  That is why a confirmation dialog is 
> > displayed.  (if it wasn't destructive, it would be better not to show a 
> > dialog at all, so that people pay attention to the ones that do popup).
> 
> Exactly. However, confirmation of destructive actions should never
> default to commiting the destruction.
> 
> Do you really want to deploy the nukes?
> 
> [ No ]       [[[Yes]]]

It's a matter of preference, and I disagree with you and agree with some 
of the others on this one.

If the default action is to not do what you just wanted to do, people just 
get annoyed and turn of the safety net (the confirmation), which is even
worse ! The confirmation dialog is the step between you and your action, 
allowing you to easily rethink your actions and go back.  But in order for 
it to not get in the way, you should be able to click to do an action and 
then press Enter to do the default (ie, what you wanted to do) action.

In the case of deploying nukes, I seriously hope you first of all don't 
put an icon for it on your desktop.  Second, if you do, I hope you don't 
just click it by accident.  Third, if you do, I hope you read the dialog 
that pops up then or at least realize you clicked on the nuke icon.

If you somehow hope that "pushing buttons" should always bring you back to 
the original state, then you're just like my mom trying to program a VCR 
;)

Thomas
 
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