Re: [Usability] Passive dialogs/messages

[Seth Nickell <snickell stanford edu>]

On Sat, 2001-11-03 at 08:58, Sinzui Kobalt wrote:
> While I agree with the dialog proposal, I'm not sure it will rid me of
> the most useless (and unusable) dialog, The single message with an OK
> button for me to activate when I've read the message.  Regardless of
> whether the dialog is modal or mode-less, I've still got to dismiss it. 
> Often this message bears good or bad news about some action.  With bad
> wording, I hedge my bets and use the window control to close the window
> instead of the OK button.  With good wording, I'll use the button, but
> should there even be a button?  When the system/app needs to show me
> information that I cannot make a decision on, why must I always stop and
> acknowledge it?  These active messages are not helpful; developers need
> passive dialogs/messages to inform users.  

This is a very good point! We have talked about this, but hadn't gotten
around to integrating specific suggestions into the interface
guidelines. I'll see if we can get something added.

-Seth