OK vs Dismiss

[Roedy Green]

It really adds insult to injury to have a dialog box like this:

"Internal error: Everything you have just typed for the last 30
minutes has been lost.

OK"


It is NOT OK!!!!

Use the word "Dismiss" or "Acknowledged" instead when you don't want
to imply approval or confirmation.

 

[Andy Fish]

It really adds insult to injury to have a dialog box like this:

"Internal error: Everything you have just typed for the last 30
minutes has been lost.

OK"

true, but people are so used to this that I don't think anyone would
seriously find it insulting any more (maybe a little ironic).

if you ask me, the word "dismiss" could cause confusion - this terminology
for getting rid of a dialog box is techie speak. "Acknowledge" is not much
better - you are still asking the user to confirm that he accepts this state
of affairs.

if you really want to please your users, put another button on the dialog
with the caption "no it's not f**king ok" and when they press it, you could
recover all the work that was just lost ;-)

 

[xarax]

It really adds insult to injury to have a dialog box like this:

"Internal error: Everything you have just typed for the last 30
minutes has been lost.

OK"


It is NOT OK!!!!

Use the word "Dismiss" or "Acknowledged" instead when you don't want
to imply approval or confirmation.

I only use the "OK" when my call to user-id
checking shows it is "Roedy Green" running
my application.





eek!

 

[Thomas Weidenfeller]

Use the word "Dismiss" or "Acknowledged" instead when you don't want
to imply approval or confirmation.

It is not as simple as that. "OK" is an established convention, while a
user would wounder what he is about to "Dismiss" if he clicks on the
button. Just that one window, or the whole application? Similar for
"Close", "Done", or "Quit".

And I can tell you, users are strange. I once had to change buttons in
an application labeled "Abort" for aborting some operations to "Cancel",
because someone didn't like the connotation of the word. Of course then
users had (understandable) problems to figure out if "Cancel" would just
close the window or abort some operation. And no, "Kill" and "Terminate"
were not acceptable alternatives, too.

/Thomas

 

[Andrew Thompson]

..And no, "Kill" and "Terminate"
were not acceptable alternatives, too.

How about "Crush" and "Destroy".. ;-)

 

[Joona I Palaste]

It is not as simple as that. "OK" is an established convention, while a
user would wounder what he is about to "Dismiss" if he clicks on the
button. Just that one window, or the whole application? Similar for
"Close", "Done", or "Quit".

Some programs even make a distinction between "exit" (the current
window or tab) and "quit" (the entire program). I may have even switched
them around! We really need some kind of standard terminology here.

 

[Jim Sculley]

It really adds insult to injury to have a dialog box like this:

"Internal error: Everything you have just typed for the last 30
minutes has been lost.

OK"


It is NOT OK!!!!

Use the word "Dismiss" or "Acknowledged" instead when you don't want
to imply approval or confirmation.

My favorite is the dialog that pops up after Windows XP has BSODed and
requires reboot.

"Windows has recovered from a serious error..."?

Recovered? That is not recovery. It is reincarnation.

Jim S.

 

[Malcolm Dew-Jones]

Joona I Palaste ([email protected]) wrote:
: Thomas Weidenfeller <[email protected]> scribbled the following:
: > Roedy Green wrote:
: >> Use the word "Dismiss" or "Acknowledged" instead when you don't want
: >> to imply approval or confirmation.

: > It is not as simple as that. "OK" is an established convention, while a
: > user would wounder what he is about to "Dismiss" if he clicks on the
: > button. Just that one window, or the whole application? Similar for
: > "Close", "Done", or "Quit".

: Some programs even make a distinction between "exit" (the current
: window or tab) and "quit" (the entire program). I may have even switched
: them around! We really need some kind of standard terminology here.

No, I think there are too many, sometimes subtle, distinctions.

I think you should simply tell the user exactly what the button will do.

[Press here to close this dialog].


Or put the text next to the button if you don't like long buttons.

 

[Thomas Weidenfeller]

I think you should simply tell the user exactly what the button will do.

[Press here to close this dialog].


Or put the text next to the button if you don't like long buttons.

If we ignore the fact that this will look very ugly and destroy the
visual appearance of even the most well designed GUI, people will still
complain.

Possible complaints are:

- What is a dialog?

- "Press here" does not work for me (points to fingerprints on the
screen). I can only do mouse clicks.

- If I close this "dialog", can I re-open it again later? Will any
dialouge with the computer still be possible? Will it ever listen to me
again?

- What does closing do with regards to the displayed error? Will it be
fixed, or do I have to fix it?

- Having to read these long button labels interrupt my work flow.

Oh, and other buttons will be fun, too:

[Press here to add new address entry to the table]
[Confirm selection of that particular file for opening]

And I18N/L10N will be real fun

[Bitte druecken Sie hier, um den Dialog zu schliessen]

I would still go with "OK", and nothing else.

/Thomas

 

[Malcolm Dew-Jones]

Thomas Weidenfeller ([email protected]) wrote:
: Malcolm Dew-Jones wrote:
: > I think you should simply tell the user exactly what the button will do.
: >
: > [Press here to close this dialog].
: >
: >
: > Or put the text next to the button if you don't like long buttons.

: If we ignore the fact that this will look very ugly and destroy the
: visual appearance of even the most well designed GUI, people will still
: complain.

Are you saying that it is more important to make the interface look pretty
than to make it useful? Personally, I don't see how you can say an
interface is "well designed" if the messages it displays are misleading,
or if it isn't clear what actions will result from choosing an option.


: Possible complaints are:

Are you saying that because some people will still not understand,
therefore you might as well give up and not bother to give correct
information to anybody?


: - What is a dialog?

: - "Press here" does not work for me (points to fingerprints on the
: screen). I can only do mouse clicks.

Picky detail on my wording, my point still remains.

: - If I close this "dialog", can I re-open it again later? Will any
: dialouge with the computer still be possible? Will it ever listen to me
: again?

: - What does closing do with regards to the displayed error? Will it be
: fixed, or do I have to fix it?

(This example question contradicts the original message in which the
dialog told the user that the work was lost.)

: - Having to read these long button labels interrupt my work flow.

(and the error message didn't?)

: Oh, and other buttons will be fun, too:

: [Press here to add new address entry to the table]

The original issue was with ambiguous meanings of buttons. If the button
is not ambiguous then it does not need a long message.

On a form used for editing information containing an address, then
presumably a [SAVE] button would be enough.

On the other hand, (for example), if a design tool displayed a form, a
table, and a report all on the same design page, and allowed the designer
to enter details of like name, phone number and address, then a button
like the above may be exactly what is required, if that is what it does.


: [Confirm selection of that particular file for opening]

: And I18N/L10N will be real fun

: [Bitte druecken Sie hier, um den Dialog zu schliessen]

: I would still go with "OK", and nothing else.