Re: [Usability] ‘extraneous text’ in dialogs

[Matthew Paul Thomas <mpt myrealbox com>]

On Oct 18, 2006, at 4:08 PM, Mariano Suárez-Alvarez wrote:
> ...
> What's the current stance on things like
> <http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=143592> and
> <http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=143594>?
> ...

Explaining difficult things in interfaces should be encouraged, because 
these explanations are much more likely to be read than if they are in 
a manual.

In general, the less frequently an interface is used, the more 
appropriate it is to embed explanatory text. For example, if there were 
instructions in one of the standard file dialogs, that would get pretty 
tiring pretty quickly. But for a difficult-to-understand option in a 
Preferences window, which is rarely used, it is quite okay.

Putting explanatory text in brackets -- as in bug 143592's examples -- 
is awkward, and should be done sparingly. Usually it is better to add a 
complete sentence, in <small> text, under the control (left-aligned 
with the main label, if the control is a checkbox or radio button).

Often the need for explanatory text can be eliminated by making a 
control's label more informative. I've given examples of this in bug 
143594. I think Gnome interfaces in general have about the right amount 
of text, but too much is redundant and too little is helpful.

Cheers
--
Matthew Paul Thomas
http://mpt.net.nz/