Ok-Cancel versus Cancel-Ok

Post by jdietrich » Sat, Jun 09, 2018, 11:03 AM UTC

JonathonW wrote: post #27

tridentlead wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not really, Ok can be a verb. You can “Ok” a change.

"Ok" for a change (that's described in the body of the dialog's text) is... okay, I suppose. But it's better to mirror the action verb for your confirmation button, because users don't necessarily read the text you present them with. So, instead of this: Delete xyz.jpg? -------------------------- The file 'xyz.jpg' will be permanently deleted. -------------------------- [ OK ] [ Cancel ] You have: Delete xyz.jpg? ---…

  Delete xyz.jpg?
  --------------------------
  The file 'xyz.jpg' will be
  permanently deleted.
  --------------------------
          [ Delete xyz.jpg ]
            [ Keep xyz.jpg ]

Post by Symbiote » Sat, Jun 09, 2018, 11:10 AM UTC

ProxCoques wrote: post #215

pasta wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is how it should be done. People don't read the message in the popup. But when presented with a Delete button users start to think about what they are doing. Also: 'Delete - Cancel' sets 'Cancel' in a much better context. You are going to cancel a delete action not an 'Ok' action.

When it comes to OK/Cancel for a non-recoverable event (like delete), it's ALWAYS been the case that the dialogue should NOT appear in the first place. Instead, the UI should be seen to do the operation, but then delay its execution while showing an "undo" for a few seconds. The reason for this is that 99.9% of people know what they're doing. So don't bother them for the sake of the 0.1% who make a mistake. But more…

  rm () {
    (sleep 30 && \rm "$@") & 
  }

Post by masklinn » Sat, Jun 09, 2018, 11:19 AM UTC

codeflo wrote: post #8

scrollaway wrote: post #6

HN folks will appreciate the entire Factorio blog. They are super open about the design of their game and it's full of micro-postmortems. https://www.factorio.com/blog/ Also, if you're reading this, you are in a demographic that is likely to absolutely love Factorio. Go buy it, it's 20 eur/usd, you won't regret it. Some call it "Programming: The Game".

Oh, you will regret it. That’s like saying “Try heroin! You’ll absolutely love it.” Not technically wrong... (Edit: I’m joking. It’s a great game.)

Post by nicoburns » Sat, Jun 09, 2018, 11:33 AM UTC

cyberferret wrote: post #115

jaysonelliot wrote: post #19

This has been a debate for as long as I've been a UX designer (mid '90s), and probably much longer. Ultimately, the answer about this UX style is very much the same as a question about writing style—there's no objectively right answer, but you have to be consistent. For example, you can pick up any number of style books from Strunk & White to the Chicago Manual of Style and get different "right" answers about writing…

Back when I used to build model aircraft dioramas, a veteran told me "When you arrange vehicles in a diorama setting, always have them facing towards the left side of the board for maximum impact.". His reasoning was that most people's eyes move left to right when examining something - which mimics their eye movement when reading text (at least in Western societies. In R-L countries I guess the opposite would be true…

Post by alanning » Sat, Jun 09, 2018, 11:57 AM UTC

Symbiote wrote: post #223

ProxCoques wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When it comes to OK/Cancel for a non-recoverable event (like delete), it's ALWAYS been the case that the dialogue should NOT appear in the first place. Instead, the UI should be seen to do the operation, but then delay its execution while showing an "undo" for a few seconds. The reason for this is that 99.9% of people know what they're doing. So don't bother them for the sake of the 0.1% who make a mistake. But more…

That gives me an idea for my .bashrc: rm () { (sleep 30 && \rm "$@") & } (Untested, and I'm unlikely to use this.)