Comment On How Do I Use This?

Cut the blue wire.

X Cancel or Cancel? Who would think of that??

Is that Oracle dialog a fake or can someone else confirm seeing it?!

BestSnowman:

X Cancel or Cancel? Who would think of that??

No, see, they're asking if you want to Cancel the current downloads, or Cancel the Canceling of the current downloads. Makes perfect sense.

The worst part of the XCancel vs Cancel buttons is they don't even answer the question that was asked in the dialog.

Me: Really cancel the current transfer?
User: Cancel
Me: Um.... what? That doesn't answer my question. Do you really want to cancel the current transfer - yes or no?
User: X Cancel!
Me: No, seriously - Do you want to cancel the transfer?
User: Cancel?
Me: Ok, let me rephrase the question. What do you want me to do with the transfer?
User: No!
Me: W. T. F.

Don't click any of those Wizard dialog buttons!

The Internet Wizard will never let you cancel your subscription!

How can a file be both installed and uninstalled on your system.

LOL

Back,
Next,
File not found

I thought Oracle apps couldn't possibly be less usable...

The third dialog I'm just going to ignore, I can't ever imagine seeing that in the wild. Not only does it not make sense, but its creator didn't even bother to align the controls correctly. I guess I didn't ignore it after all...

The second box I can see happening. Someone didn't test enough to make sure the label was large enough for the text. Happens to the best of us.

The first box makes perfect sense to me, even though it probably won't to the users. The X cancel will cancel the download. It's in the spot OK usually is at, it has a really nice image next to it, AND it has C be a shortcut.

Overall I enjoyed this very much.

The answer to the first one is obvious: Cancel.

The third dialog looks like test code that slipped into shipping product. I bet when they fix it they'll find a big "DEBUG - DO NOT CHECK IN" comment on it.

T$:

Someone didn't test enough to make sure the label was large enough for the text. Happens to the best of us.

Did you read the text IN the box?

T$:

The first box makes perfect sense to me, even though it probably won't to the users. The X cancel will cancel the download. It's in the spot OK usually is at, it has a really nice image next to it, AND it has C be a shortcut.

If you're running windows... Other operating systems arrange there buttons differently

BestSnowman:

X Cancel or Cancel? Who would think of that??

From my experience with an Alcatel phone (where instead of Yes/No or OK/Cancel they had OK/OK where one of the OKs has a line through it), I'd say that X Cancel means 'do not cancel'.

A welcome return for a mini-pot pourri :-) The quality seems to have been rising some since a certain post that shall not be mentioned.

For the first one, it makes perfect sense when you stop and think, but surely the developer would do the aforementioned stopping and thinking and realise that having two buttons with the same text can't be good. It's an all too common problem though, that and double-negative dialogs.

Dustin_00:

Don't click any of those Wizard dialog buttons!

The Internet Wizard will never let you cancel your subscription!

That's Internet Wwwyzzerdd. The service is only 44.95 a month, that's pennies a day... Surely the convenience entices you. Pornography and online gaming at hundreds of times the speed of your normal advertising service provider.

And you'd be wrong.

(Gah, forgot how much this software sucks. Ignore my last comment.)

Still too lazy to log in:

BestSnowman:

X Cancel or Cancel? Who would think of that??

From my experience with an Alcatel phone (where instead of Yes/No or OK/Cancel they had OK/OK where one of the OKs has a line through it), I'd say that X Cancel means 'do not cancel'.

And you'd be wrong.

Mark:

Did you read the text IN the box?

Indeed I did. Leads me to believe that files are missing or they're corrupted and need to be reinstalled. I can't pass final judgment on the quality of the error message without being able to read the rest of it.

Mark:

If you're running windows... Other operating systems arrange there buttons differently

Excellent point, I concede that arrangement of the buttons may mean something different to non-Windows users. Though being a Windows user, I'm used to that format, hence part of why it makes sense to me but might not to others.

Dustin_00:

Don't click any of those Wizard dialog buttons!

The Internet Wizard will never let you cancel your subscription!

Sure, blame the wizards!

Dialog boxes are so 20th century...

MX5Ringer:

How can a file be both installed and uninstalled on your system.

Kind of like the good old EXTREMELY FATAL program uninstallation error - "This program cannot be uninstalled because the file deletion operation failed: The file being deleted, X, doesn't exist."

(This happens when someone tells the programmer that they need to add this newfangled "error handling" thing in their programs... so lo, that day, they checked every possible error condition and made sure all had appropriate handling and error messages.)

Mark:

T$:

The first box makes perfect sense to me, even though it probably won't to the users. The X cancel will cancel the download. It's in the spot OK usually is at, it has a really nice image next to it, AND it has C be a shortcut.

If you're running windows... Other operating systems arrange there buttons differently

Uh... been a while since I really used it, but isn't Windows OK-on-the-left system? OK buttons are on right in MacOS and GNOME. (Wikipedia article on dialog boxes has a screenie of Firefox dialog close warning, on Windows; I tried it in GNOME right now and the buttons are the other way around.)

Still too lazy to log in:

BestSnowman:

X Cancel or Cancel? Who would think of that??

From my experience with an Alcatel phone (where instead of Yes/No or OK/Cancel they had OK/OK where one of the OKs has a line through it), I'd say that X Cancel means 'do not cancel'.

That X looks like the one used in some versions of Windows on the do-not-perform-this-operation button. So it would seem that the button without the X is there in place of the OK button, which would have a green checkmark. My guess is that it's the button on the right that cancels the running transfers, and the one with the X just closes the dialog. Definitely a WTF no matter what the OS, though.

I've always wondered why it is so difficult for software developers to create these dialogs in such a way that the available choices are suitable answers to the question posed in the text.

The first one asks, "Really cancel all running transfers?" The ONLY suitable answers to this question are "Yes" and "No". How hard is that?

I can imagine one of these developers in the airplane, and the flight attendant comes along with coffee:

Attendant: "Coffee?"
Developer: "OK."
Attendant: "Cream or sugar?"
Developer: "Cancel."

Sheesh.

T$:

Mark:

Did you read the text IN the box?

Indeed I did. Leads me to believe that files are missing or they're corrupted and need to be reinstalled. I can't pass final judgment on the quality of the error message without being able to read the rest of it.

Mark:

If you're running windows... Other operating systems arrange there buttons differently

Excellent point, I concede that arrangement of the buttons may mean something different to non-Windows users. Though being a Windows user, I'm used to that format, hence part of why it makes sense to me but might not to others.

And from the look of that dialog and the buttons, it really makes me think of Gnome desktop, mostly with the kind of color outlining of the button on the left, that's pure Gnome button focus.

futurama anyone?:

Dustin_00:

Don't click any of those Wizard dialog buttons!

The Internet Wizard will never let you cancel your subscription!

Sure, blame the wizards!

Ok, that nearly made coffee come out of my nose :)

Le Poete:

T$:

Mark:

Did you read the text IN the box?

Indeed I did. Leads me to believe that files are missing or they're corrupted and need to be reinstalled. I can't pass final judgment on the quality of the error message without being able to read the rest of it.

Mark:

If you're running windows... Other operating systems arrange there buttons differently

Excellent point, I concede that arrangement of the buttons may mean something different to non-Windows users. Though being a Windows user, I'm used to that format, hence part of why it makes sense to me but might not to others.

And from the look of that dialog and the buttons, it really makes me think of Gnome desktop, mostly with the kind of color outlining of the button on the left, that's pure Gnome button focus.

And the font, that's default font for Gnome in Debian and Ubuntu and maybe more.

The only thing I'm sure I'd want to click on the second dialog is "Don't display this message again"...

Le Poete:

Le Poete:

T$:

Mark:

Did you read the text IN the box?

Indeed I did. Leads me to believe that files are missing or they're corrupted and need to be reinstalled. I can't pass final judgment on the quality of the error message without being able to read the rest of it.

Mark:

If you're running windows... Other operating systems arrange there buttons differently

Excellent point, I concede that arrangement of the buttons may mean something different to non-Windows users. Though being a Windows user, I'm used to that format, hence part of why it makes sense to me but might not to others.

And from the look of that dialog and the buttons, it really makes me think of Gnome desktop, mostly with the kind of color outlining of the button on the left, that's pure Gnome button focus.

And the font, that's default font for Gnome in Debian and Ubuntu and maybe more.

Huh??? What are all of you talking about? The dialog with the unreadable text mentions "C:\Program Files"!!!!!

Or maybe Ubuntu is REALLY bending over backwards these days to be accomodating to Windoze users?

The Real WTF® is that in the first dialog box, the icon isn't a warning sign but a priority sign with a question mark in it. So you'd have to yield any crossing questions.

RogerC: they're talking about the first dialog, in which the button arrangement actually matters.

RogerC:

Le Poete:

Le Poete:

T$:

Mark:

Did you read the text IN the box?

Indeed I did. Leads me to believe that files are missing or they're corrupted and need to be reinstalled. I can't pass final judgment on the quality of the error message without being able to read the rest of it.

Mark:

If you're running windows... Other operating systems arrange there buttons differently

Excellent point, I concede that arrangement of the buttons may mean something different to non-Windows users. Though being a Windows user, I'm used to that format, hence part of why it makes sense to me but might not to others.

And from the look of that dialog and the buttons, it really makes me think of Gnome desktop, mostly with the kind of color outlining of the button on the left, that's pure Gnome button focus.

And the font, that's default font for Gnome in Debian and Ubuntu and maybe more.

Huh??? What are all of you talking about? The dialog with the unreadable text mentions "C:\Program Files"!!!!!

Or maybe Ubuntu is REALLY bending over backwards these days to be accomodating to Windoze users?

Good thing they're talking about the first one.

The #2 example happens for every single dialog box I get for Adware on my computer. The dialog buttons are also cut off, so I can't tell what I'm agreeing or not agreeing to make changes to my computer's registry. It's pretty much useless right now.

CAPTCHA - muhahahaha - describes my day so far!

RogerC:

Le Poete:

Le Poete:

T$:

Mark:

Did you read the text IN the box?

Indeed I did. Leads me to believe that files are missing or they're corrupted and need to be reinstalled. I can't pass final judgment on the quality of the error message without being able to read the rest of it.

Mark:

If you're running windows... Other operating systems arrange there buttons differently

Excellent point, I concede that arrangement of the buttons may mean something different to non-Windows users. Though being a Windows user, I'm used to that format, hence part of why it makes sense to me but might not to others.

And from the look of that dialog and the buttons, it really makes me think of Gnome desktop, mostly with the kind of color outlining of the button on the left, that's pure Gnome button focus.

And the font, that's default font for Gnome in Debian and Ubuntu and maybe more.

Huh??? What are all of you talking about? The dialog with the unreadable text mentions "C:\Program Files"!!!!!

Or maybe Ubuntu is REALLY bending over backwards these days to be accomodating to Windoze users?

Sorry, might have accidently switched thread while reading, was talking about the X Cancel / Cancel dialog.

T$:

The second box I can see happening. Someone didn't test enough to make sure the label was large enough for the text. Happens to the best of us.

No, it happens to those who don't use content-driven layout.

OTOH, that text should be taken behind the barn and shot. When was the author eventually going to stop rambling and get to something resembling a point?

RogerC:

I can imagine one of these developers in the airplane, and the flight attendant comes along with coffee:

Attendant: "Coffee?"
Developer: "OK."
Attendant: "Cream or sugar?"
Developer: "Cancel."

Attendant: CONDIMENT_NOT_FOUND

T$:

The first box makes perfect sense to me, even though it probably won't to the users. The X cancel will cancel the download. It's in the spot OK usually is at, it has a really nice image next to it, AND it has C be a shortcut.

But it got focus. I'd expect the button that have focus by default to not do the disastrous thing.

RogerC:

The first one asks, "Really cancel all running transfers?" The ONLY suitable answers to this question are "Yes" and "No". How hard is that?

/No, absolutely not!/ 'Yes' and 'No' are *horrible* dialog buttons. Verbs, maaan! "Abort downloads" and "Continue downloading" would be better.

Oh, and a destructive action should never be the default button, from which I assume that the left button actually cancels the transfer cancelling.

The X Cancel | Cancel dialog looks like a half-implemented good UI--making it a bad UI.

It looks like the good UI principle they were shooting for was not using OK/Cancel buttons. They should have used something like "Cancel All Downloads" and "Continue Downloading" so that users would not have to read the question above the buttons. But instead of making both buttons descriptive, they only changed the text of the OK button--which in this case happened to match the text of the unchanged Cancel button.

Still too lazy to log in:

BestSnowman:

X Cancel or Cancel? Who would think of that??

From my experience with an Alcatel phone (where instead of Yes/No or OK/Cancel they had OK/OK where one of the OKs has a line through it), I'd say that X Cancel means 'do not cancel'.

Oh, of course. Now it's so clear.

Wait, "do not cancel" what? The downloading or the canceling?

Or maybe "X Cancel" means your get Extra Canceling.

--Rank

Not that I'm much of Mac person, but I have used them enough to know that you just don't see crap like this. I don't know why. Maybe its the environment, just lazy coders or both, but almost daily, I see dump UI things like this under Windows.

Mcoder:

T$:

The first box makes perfect sense to me, even though it probably won't to the users. The X cancel will cancel the download. It's in the spot OK usually is at, it has a really nice image next to it, AND it has C be a shortcut.

But it got focus. I'd expect the button that have focus by default to not do the disastrous thing.

You guys aren't used to the GNOME button layout, like in Firefox ;). The destructive button is definitely the right one. Anyway, a fix for this is underway, thanks to the GNOME developers!

Ah for human interface guidelines...

In the first case, I believe Apple even says "Do not use generic messages like Yes/No or OK/Cancel, but instead, use descriptive verbs, so your dialog is 'Your document XXX has changed. What do you want to do?' with 'Save document', 'Don't save document' and 'Cancel'."

Perhaps it should be written as "There are downloads in progress. What do you want to do?" with "Quit and stop all downloads", "Don't quit", and possibly "Quit after download completes".

The second one, well, that's why you don't use one big text box, you use two separate ones. One describes what is happening, the next one describes the actions that can be taken. Though if you wrote the dialog correctly, it should just be "Remove file" (or, if installing, "Overwrite file"), "Skip file", and "Stop (un)installation".

And I can't believe the third one is possibly real...

RogerC:

Attendant: "Coffee?"
Developer: "OK."
Attendant: "Cream or sugar?"
Developer: "Cancel."

Sheesh.

I think Cancel means "no, I don't want coffee, let's restart this conversation from the beginning"
In fact in a yes/no/cancel, yes/no answers the question directly while Cancel stops the current task. The real WTF is that the second screenshot in the article seems to be GNOME app and GNOME has awesome interface guidelines. For example, if you're launching an executable script, it presents a dialog with 4 options that's actually readable.

RogerC:

I've always wondered why it is so difficult for software developers to create these dialogs in such a way that the available choices are suitable answers to the question posed in the text.

The first one asks, "Really cancel all running transfers?" The ONLY suitable answers to this question are "Yes" and "No". How hard is that?

I can imagine one of these developers in the airplane, and the flight attendant comes along with coffee:

Attendant: "Coffee?"
Developer: "OK."
Attendant: "Cream or sugar?"
Developer: "Cancel."

Sheesh.

Software 'dialogues' are different from oral conversations. It's good UI design, whenever possible, to label buttons with words that say what they will make happen. That way if the user has not read the whole message, has read it carelessly, or is just unsure what it's asking, the functions of the buttons will still be clear. This becomes especially important when the question that is asked contains a negative or a double negative or is in some other way potentially confusing.

"Yes" and "No" are sometimes appropriate, but whenever I can, I use words such as Print Report, Clear Files, Submit Request, Purchase This Item, Close Window, Cancel Downloading, Save Changes, Publish, Start Back-up, etc.

God, you people put way too much thought into dialog #1. If you want to cancel downloads hit "enter," if you want to kill the dialog hit "esc" ... Mice are for pansies.

I have definitely seen that disco screen. that app is a horrible steaming pile.

We had a developer that wrote an interface with the following button to delete a picture if it was there or add one if you'd browsed for it:

"Click here to add or delete."

It was very scary! "Oh God! Which one will it do?"

cconroy:

RogerC:

I can imagine one of these developers in the airplane, and the flight attendant comes along with coffee:

Attendant: "Coffee?"
Developer: "OK."
Attendant: "Cream or sugar?"
Developer: "Cancel."

Attendant: CONDIMENT_NOT_FOUND

Jeez, remind me never to fly on the low-cost airline you fly on. "Condiment?" Which one? Brown sauce? Mustard? Fish paste? Pickle?

In any case, the correct answer to the Attendant's second question would be "Whichever you want to call me, sweetie..." This usually only works in First Class, and even then only on fairly disreputable airlines, but it's still worth a try.

That Oracle one is pretty tame compared to some of the other garbage I've seen their software throwing up. My personal favourite is a 20-odd line SQL-statement-as-error-message (Oracle assume this will make perfect sense to an end user) that you get when trying to cancel out of a screen you may have gone into accidentally. Not only is it totally unfriendly, but it also gives away internal table/column names.

[Cue music] o/~ Real men of geniuns....o/~ Here's to you Mr. Really Confusing Dialog Box Maker-Upper!