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It Was Bad UX, not a “Wrong Button” in Hawaii

washingtonpost.com

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Re: It Was Bad UX, not a “Wrong Button” in Hawaii

#81

Post by kevindqc »

jaclaz wrote: post #76
mannykannot wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A warning, whether mistaken or not, is not a death threat, and a death threat is not just a complaint.

>A warning, whether mistaken or not, is not a death threat, and a death threat is not just a complaint. I don't think there is exactly the same crime in all the states of the US, but there is in some states (as well as in many other countries) the crime of "false public alarm". Example, you start crying "Fire!" in a crowded cinema or public place: http://mollolawfirm.com/resources/criminal-law-resources/fal... P.S.:…

There's a difference between crying "Fire!" to willingly cause panic over nothing (ie: intent to cause harm), and a mistake...

Text from your first link even says that:

> A person is guilty of a crime of the third degree if he knowingly causes such false alarm [...]

Re: It Was Bad UX, not a “Wrong Button” in Hawaii

#82

Post by jasonmaydie »

nsxwolf wrote: post #63

I think this whole thing could be seen as a blessing in disguise, but I don't hear anyone talking about it. We seem totally unprepared for this kind of event. The message said take shelter, so why were people running around screaming and crying in the streets? People were throwing their kids into storm drains. Clever, but what happens to them after that? Where do we go? How long do we have to stay there? Who is going…

I think we should be making a lot of effort to prevent this kind of event than to prepare for this kind of event. It was a blessing in disguise indeed because it made people realize that talk is cheap and showmanship really can lead to some horrible outcomes.

Re: It Was Bad UX, not a “Wrong Button” in Hawaii

#83

Post by theandrewbailey »

794CD01 wrote: post #59
bovermyer wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because that's literally the law: > TERRORISTIC THREAT > > (a) A person commits an offense if he threatens to commit any offense involving violence to any person or property with intent to: > > 2. place any person in fear of imminent serious bodily injury;

The intent of most death threats these days, almost certainly including these, is simply to express dissatisfaction, not to "place any person in fear of imminent serious bodily injury", even if that's how an outside observer unfamiliar with cultural context might interpret it.

> The intent of most death threats ... is simply to express dissatisfaction

Are they? There are plenty of other ways to do that without (pardon me) going nuclear. Many death threats go so far as to include someone's family, friends, and other acquaintances. If it's mere dissatisfaction being expressed, why go that far if not to put someone in fear?

Re: It Was Bad UX, not a “Wrong Button” in Hawaii

#84

Post by jasonmaydie »

everdev wrote: post #12

For all developers asked to design something or not given a design - CSS padding is your friend. Add spacing and then add more. It won't make it a masterpiece but it'll prevent misclicks and make the UI easier to read and understand. Also, use headings like "Amber Alerts", "Weather" and "War". And, use semantic titles like "[TEST] Tsunami" or "ALERT! - Tsunami"

Developers don't design. They implement.

Re: It Was Bad UX, not a “Wrong Button” in Hawaii

#85

Post by weaksauce »

BearGoesChirp wrote: post #71
MaxBarraclough wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a good example. Shockingly poor foresight. It's similar to the "A gun is always loaded" principle. Unless you can tell at a glance that a firearm is not in a ready-to-fire state, you treat it as if it is. People are clumsy and forgetful, and you only have to mess up once. Leaving the live rounds right next to the blanks, in that way, is pretty indefensible. (Ignoring of course that blanks can still kill, for t…

>Unless you can tell at a glance that a firearm is not in a ready-to-fire state Chance you are actually able to say that vs. chance you made a mistake in reasoning that conclusion? Still not a bet worth taking.

The at a glance condition is probably the one where you stick a brightly colored piece of plastic in the chamber to act as an unarmed flag. Still best to be careful at all times IMO.

Re: It Was Bad UX, not a “Wrong Button” in Hawaii

#86

Post by ams6110 »

nolo wrote: post #16

Taking the opposite side side of the argument, good UX only matters for inexperienced employees. People that mindlessly click are going to mindlessly click "yes" on the confirmation dialog

Experienced users can adapt to almost any interface that they use regularly. Presumably missile alerts, even test alerts, are done rather infrequently (1 x month?). So in that case a foolproof interface is even more important.

Re: It Was Bad UX, not a “Wrong Button” in Hawaii

#87

Post by eitland »

Shank wrote: post #46
eitland wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Very much agree with the redesign of the page. Simple, much better. The confirmation box however might be dangerous: If employee panics they might easily fail to get that right resulting in a failure to warn in time.

> If employee panics they might easily fail to get that right resulting in a failure to warn in time. It's not like the box goes away. You have plenty of time to fix your typing. Not only that, but bad UI is a bad UI problem. Not being able to operate a system correctly under stress is a problem often solved with a combination of tactics, including UI, but also stress management, response, etc. People who operate bal…

> You have plenty of time to fix your typing.

By the time you are aware of an incoming icbm I guess every second matter to save as many lives as possible.

> Not being able to operate a system correctly under stress is a problem often solved with a combination of tactics, including UI...

I think we actually agree. I'm not saying training isn't really important. I'm just saying that reading more than one paragraph then typing (including case sensitive text) might be hard when you fear an actual icbm.

Re: It Was Bad UX, not a “Wrong Button” in Hawaii

#88

Post by jklowden »

nsxwolf wrote: post #63

I think this whole thing could be seen as a blessing in disguise, but I don't hear anyone talking about it. We seem totally unprepared for this kind of event. The message said take shelter, so why were people running around screaming and crying in the streets? People were throwing their kids into storm drains. Clever, but what happens to them after that? Where do we go? How long do we have to stay there? Who is going…

No one stopped caring. What we stopped doing was pretending the civilian population could be protected against nuclear holocaust.

The bomb that obliterated Hiroshima was a toy next to a thermonuclear bomb, which is 1000 times as powerful. If one lands on Oahu, there won't be anyone to pass out iodine pills in Hawaii, or anyone to pass them out to.

Hawaii is just stupid to spend a nickel on an early warning system. The only reason it exists is that too many people don't understand what they're supposedly being warned, or that they are utterly defenseless.

Sometimes, the only protection is prevention. This is one.

Re: It Was Bad UX, not a “Wrong Button” in Hawaii

#89

Post by ourmandave »

notjustanymike wrote: post #56
HarrietJones wrote: post #5

A lot of conversations seem fixated on what's the worst that could happen if the wrong message was sent, but very few of these people are considering what's the worst that could happen if the right message wasn't sent. Also, it's very likely that the dropdown message text was not added by a developer, and this addition of the messages by non-technical users should also be part of that UX conversation.

Tsunami warning: Everyone seeks high ground. Missile warning: Everyone flees to basements. Right next to each other, no way that'll go wrong.

Apropos to nothing, the actual user experience between a Tsunami and a Nuke are quite different.

Re: It Was Bad UX, not a “Wrong Button” in Hawaii

#90

Post by everdev »

jasonmaydie wrote: post #84
everdev wrote: post #12

For all developers asked to design something or not given a design - CSS padding is your friend. Add spacing and then add more. It won't make it a masterpiece but it'll prevent misclicks and make the UI easier to read and understand. Also, use headings like "Amber Alerts", "Weather" and "War". And, use semantic titles like "[TEST] Tsunami" or "ALERT! - Tsunami"

Developers don't design. They implement.

"Design is how it works." - Steve Jobs

Developers are designers, some just don't know it.

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