Re: [Usability] Re: Button ordering

[Maciej Stachowiak <mjs noisehavoc org>]

On 03Nov2001 07:16PM (-0800), Seth Nickell wrote:
> > >  ----------------------------------------------------------------
> > >  |                                                              |
> > >  |    WARNING: Are you sure you want to format your hard        |
> > >  |             drive? This will erase all data on the drive     |
> > >  |             including documents and applications.            |
> > >  |                                                              |
> > >  | [ Help ]              [ Cancel Format ] [ Erase Hard Drive ] | 
> > >  `--------------------------------------------------------------'
> > 
> > If it were up to me, I would do it more like this:
> > 
> > ------------------------------------------------------------------
> > |                                                                |
> > | [alert]   Are you sure you want to erase volume `My Disk'?     |
> > | [icon ]   This will permanently delete all files on `My Disk'. |
> > |                                                                |
> > | [ Help ]                                  [ Cancel ] [ Erase ] | 
> > `----------------------------------------------------------------'
> > 
> > Rationale:
> > 
> > * All-caps text like WARNING is hard on the eyes, looks ugly, and
> > needlessly alarms users. A suitable alert icon should be sufficient.
> 
> It is intentionally hard on the eyes 

OK, so you're assuming that making something harder to read will make
the reader more likely to read it before quickly dimsissing a dialog?
At the extreme end of the spectrum, we could make all the text
all-caps, bright red, and blinking.

> and very alarming. 

Making UI text alarming is more likely to make users fear their
computer than to make them think more carefully (or whatever the
intended effect is). Indeed tend to think less clearly when
alarmed. Admittedly a minor case here, but it illustrates a broader
point: don't scare the user, just explain the situation in plain
language.

> The user is about to initiate just about the most destructive
> operation their computer knows how to do. Note that this dialogue
> was specifically for the primary hard disk. Presumably something
> that formats removable media would be much less severe. The alert
> icon is too generic I think, since many less serious warnings will
> use the alert icon.

I was using the term in the generic sense here, I assume there will be
a couple of different ones for different severity.

> > * Clarity is important, but so is brevity. I would suggest thinking
> > "what words can I take out?" when writing UI text, as the GDP does for
> > documentation. This goes double for command buttons.
> 
> Actually, I would prefer the button to read "Erase My Disk". I think
> buttons should be rather specific about what they are about to perform,
> it makes the choice easier.

Let me go into a bit more detail. In context, "Erase" is plenty
specific. Further "Erase" is instantly visually recongizable, while
"Erase My Disk" takes a bit more time to read and process.

> 
>   ---------------------------------------------------------------
>  |                                                               |
>  | [alert]   WARNING: Are you sure you want to erase volume      |
>  | [icon ]   `My Disk'? This will permanently delete all files   |
>  |            on `My Disk'.                                      |
>  |                                                               |
>  | [ Help ]                         [ Cancel ] [ Erase My Disk ] | 
>   ---------------------------------------------------------------

Customizing the button to the volume name is definitely overdoing
it. We definitely want "Save", not "Save MyDocument.txt" for
example. Command button labels mostly need to be brief and constant.

> Anyway, this can descend into endless bickering and I think Maciej's
> version emphasizes the important points just as well. 

I'm not trying to bicker, just demonstrate some of the principles one
might apply to this completely hypothetical example, so people know we
don't just pull this stuff from our collective ass. :-)

> I think it would definitely be reasonable to include these examples
> in the interface guidelines.

If you think this particular confirmation dialog is so atypical as to
require the all-caps text "WARNING:" at the beginning, we probably
don't want to include it, since it we don't want to recommend that as
standard practice, even for descructive actions like quitting without
saving, overwriting a file, or emptying the trash.

Regards,

Maciej