[Usability] Passive dialogs/messages

[Sinzui Kobalt <sinzui cox rr com>]

While I agree with the dialog proposal, I'm not sure it will rid me of
the most useless (and unusable) dialog, The single message with an OK
button for me to activate when I've read the message.  Regardless of
whether the dialog is modal or mode-less, I've still got to dismiss it. 
Often this message bears good or bad news about some action.  With bad
wording, I hedge my bets and use the window control to close the window
instead of the OK button.  With good wording, I'll use the button, but
should there even be a button?  When the system/app needs to show me
information that I cannot make a decision on, why must I always stop and
acknowledge it?  These active messages are not helpful; developers need
passive dialogs/messages to inform users.  

The status bar is the prime candidate, but it's presentation space is
limited.  I built an XML validation tool for HomeSite, and instead of
displaying a dialog with the error or success message, I co-opted the
status bar.  I could do this because the messages were very brief, and I
could control the color of the text in the status bar.  A success
message was low key, but and error colored the message to highlight the
position in the file the user needed to review.  The message tends to
stay long enough to take the appropriate action, but it is possible for
another event to make use of the scrollbar.  Developers need a better
means to prioritize and time short messages to use the status bar in
place of a dialog.

I've seen some applications (often applets) make use of another form of
passive messaging using a chomeless window.  Usually a quiet message
appears in a corner of the screen informing the user that an email
arrived from so-and-so regrading this-and-that.  The message is visible
for a short time then disappears.  A more practical adaption would
provide a means to indicate importance; an urgent message would be
visible longer, or highlighted.  Some might argue the the message is
disassociated form the application, and I agree; a passive message must
provide a context for itself.  I also think the same is still true
active dialogs.  I believe MacOS X attaches a translucent message to the
window title to establish the context, but nothing prevents the
developer from placing a dialog with a single button on it.

A third approach requires more fore-thought but make the active message
dialog usable.  Abandon the OK dialog, and change the API to not permit
a dialog with a single button.  This will force developers who wishes to
use an active dialog to justify it.  Instead of showing an single OK
button for a message about my search yielded no results, it could
instead offer a SEARCH AGAIN button.  This scenario could save me more
keystrokes/clicks than the usual active dialog or passive message.
-- 

__S i n z u i___________________________________
sinzui cox rr com
Guilty of stealing everything I am.