[Usability] Re: [Usability]Are you sure? Don't ask me again.

[Maciej Stachowiak <mjs noisehavoc org>]

On 10Sep2001 12:46PM (-0400), Erik Pukinskis wrote:
> 
> 
> While these dialogs might avoid disaster, they can be a big annoyance
> and killer of efficiency.
> 
> I'd suggest adding to the dialog box specifications that ALL "Are you
> sure?" dialogs (and possibly all alerts?) should have a check box that
> says "Don't ask me again."
> 

There are two common usability problems with such check boxes:

1) Typically, they don't make it obvious to the user how to start
getting asked again. This can be improved somewhat by adding
explanatory text about how to turn the dialog back on.

2) Users often click through confirmation dialogs like this really
quickly, noticing the checkbox to make the dialog not come up again
just barely too late to keep from clicking on the button adds to a
feeling of frustraion.


The best way to minimize annoyance of "are you sure" dialogs is to
make most actions undoable, thus minimizing the number of actions
which invoke this kind of dialog, since it is only appropriate when an
action is potentially harmful and not easily reversible.

Some "are you sure" dialogs are used in what seems to me to be
frivolous circumstances, compounding the problem of users clicing
throught them blindly. For instance, the first time I visited an https
site in internet explorer on Mac OS X, I got a dialog warning me that
I was entering a secure site (with only an OK button, no way to
Cancel). When I later tried to submit a form from this site, it warned
me that I was submitting a secure form. Then when I left the site, I
was warned that I was entering an insecure site. That's definitely too
many warnings, and most of the dialogs did not let me cancel the
action.

So my advice about confirmation dialogs would be:

1) Can the action you are warning about be cancelled? If not, don't
put a confirmation dialog.

2) Is the action you are warning about reversible? If so, don't put a
confirmation dialog.

3) Is the action you are warning about potentially dangerous? If not,
don't put a confirmation dialog. If so, weight the severity of the
potential risk against the likelihood of the dangerous result actually
happening.

4) If the action is both dangerous and not reversible, consider maklng
it undoable in some way as a possible alternative to a confirmation
dialog.


Regards,

Maciej