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58
When a user is about to take an action that may not be easily reversible, it is imperative that the interface give them enough information to:
Make the correct decision on what they want to do.
Make it very clear how to make that happen.
In Windows 7 the "Copy File" dialog gives you plenty of information to help you compare the two files using meta ...
48
While Charles's Answer shows some great UIs, I wanted to add the UX that Directory Opus uses for the same action, which I find very good as well. Simple on the surface with advanced options tucked away after a click.
.
Clicking on the Dropdowns results in these options:
As you can see it also provides shortcuts for the advanced operations making it ...
15
That is one of the best examples of an interface designed by engineers for engineers :)
I would suggest the following improvements:
Some of the options should be moved to an advanced section, which is selectable for people that know that they want advanced features.
Related options could be grouped together to make it easier to scan.
The buttons should ...
11
Could you combine all 3 in a singe field with the label "Phone Number, Email or Name". Other than that I can only suggest using text to describe what the user should do - "Please fill in ONE of the following:" for example.
download bmml source – Wireframes created with Balsamiq Mockups
11
It could be useful in the following circumstances:
When the user's native language isn't English, but they are more familiar with English labels than the native equivalents.
For users who need to switch keyboards (and auto-complete dictionary) using both their native language and English (or another secondary language).
For users that give their old phones ...
9
I'm not sure you should rely on a copy change alone (or even if it worked, it may not be worth the added confusion - see @joe larson's answer). You might try instead calling out an explicit warning:
download bmml source – Wireframes created with Balsamiq Mockups
8
I think FileZilla does a good job of this. And they give you options to never ask again when overwriting - either in the current queue of transfers ('apply to current queue only'), or for the entire FTP session (just 'always use this action' selected).
If they were to add any more options though, I reckon a drop down list would be in order for the 'action' ...
6
download bmml source – Wireframes created with Balsamiq Mockups
If you can have one and only one identification method, then let them select which they want to use via a group of 3 radio buttons and once they select one make the label and input for that identification method visible or have them disabled until selected via a radio button.
The ...
5
Wouldn't it be better to collect statistics for, let's say, a week?
Then you could take the decision (or help someone who will decided) based on the behavior of the real users of the site. You can find, for example, that even when the company pays something for the person, that person has a specific/limited budget to spend, and by seeing trainings that fit ...
4
I usually prefer users to see just what they need to see (the simplest the better), and only give them deeper options when they need them. Eyal's solution is very good, but if we are talking about 50 companies then it would be a bit overcrowded. Another option for me would be:
Companies > (combo) All
-link- Show advanced options
OK
And when ...
4
In this situation, you're correct to reject the 7+/- approach. Really, the answer is that too much choice results in no decision being made.
This is a variety on the Analysis Paralysis.
Analysis Paralysis refers to over-analyzing (or over-thinking) a situation, or citing sources, so that a decision or action is never taken, in effect paralyzing the ...
4
One big issue here is a lack of hierarchy, all of the buttons are given equal weight on one wide line, which ends up being overpowering at first glance. The user wastes mental energy scanning all available actions because he/she assumes that all choices are equally important.
I believe this dialog box should be customized, with obviously the 2 big buttons ...
4
I'm author of WinSCP and I've found this "question" really inspiring. Thanks. This is my (kind of) "answer".
Improvements I've done (see also screenshot below):
Inspired by @Vijay's answer (and Directory Opus), I have merged similar buttons into one with drop down menu. So now there are only 4 buttons, Yes (with Newer Only and Yes to All in menu), No ...
3
If you don't plan on implementing a down vote, I think it would look strange to only have, for example, an arrow pointing up. Or a plus symbol. Likes are accumulative, while voting needs at least two options (otherwise it's not a vote), and some associations might be quite strong, like up/down, yes/no, plus/minus. I would probably feel something is missing ...
3
Stick to your guns. Showing the default graph and not requiring a setup step before doing so is better in this case because
The graph is showing valid information in either mode.
The settings buttons are obvious and directly above the graph and easy to change.
That extra setup step could cost you traffic, some people find any extra set up or sign up or ...
3
My advise would be not to use radio buttons, but always letting the date pickers display the date range (as you depict with select boxes - I would suggest using an "augmented" text field instead, see Filament Group example below). This way ambiguity can be reduced/avoided, since "previous month" might be interpreted as (if we have a current date of e.g. 20th ...
3
Here is a suggestion from a well-known piece of software. This is in a dialog box, so pressing enter just performs the default action, while the other options almost require the mouse to reach.
Pro: Clear; Groups similar actions; Promotes default action.
Con: It could be hard to find the optional actions.
3
Hi and congratulations on caring about making things easier for users!
My first suggestion is to ask users. Do a paper or post-it prototype (Wikipedia: paper prototyping) and go ask five people. (http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20000319.html)
Second: it is tempting to think that users will be comfortable when all screens have the same mechanism. You are ...
3
I recommend reading this excellent case study of how Evernote got its customers to pay for its service which was initally free. To quote the article
But according to one hugely successful startup which operates under
the Freemium model, Evernote, converting free to paid is all about
engagement.
"The easiest way to get a million people to pay for ...
3
What you describe isn’t so much a print dialog as a fully-featured database querying, reporting, and dissemination tool. That’s a huge chunk of functionality. It’s perhaps half of what the users use the ERP app for (the other half being modifying the database content). It’s too much to squeeze into one dialog. I think you need to break it into pieces. There ...
2
I get what you are trying to do here. But if you flip only one of a long list of "Allow? Yes/No" to "Disable? Yes/No", instead of discouraging undesired behavior you'll most likely just get confused users doing something they did not intend.
This is similar to those jokes where you ask a long string of questions with a similar answer and then throw in a ...
2
You could have a drop-down box, with an X on the side when something is selected to remove the selection, as shown below:
download bmml source – Wireframes created with Balsamiq Mockups
But, to be honest, the basic 'None' or Blank choice is simpler to impliment and probably less likely to confuse the user (no fancy X needed, just choose None ...
2
You could use a automatic verification of the entered input to check if its a name (characters), email (at-sign) or phone number (numbers). This way you would need only one input field for this three. After validation it would be good style to highlight the recognized input - if a user entered numbers, you would highlight phone number.
2
Have the required field marked in a way that it stands out of the rest of the controls. Convention on the web often shows a star (*) but other required field options are available. Some uses a light yellow color to highlight the required field(s).
Also right-align the labels to every field, making it easier for the user to read which field is connected to ...
2
It will be good to have meaningful controls for either solutions. Nobody likes to read documentation and even if the users learn the meaning but don't use the app everyday they may forget the meaning quickly. It's a bit hard to answer your questions without much context. How many actions and alternatives do you have? How is your system represented to users? ...
2
If not the Google introducing new way of searching, where results show automatically even before you press enter key, I would be sure this is not the way to go. Personally, I hate when Google does that. Loading data, making a request to server, processing it in javascript and populating the page with it usually comes up with some major lag - this is a bad ...
2
If you happen to be filling the form below the scroll fold and add a top section you'll not only have the same problem of not seeing the section appear right in front of you but also experience your current view being pushed down by the new content which very is annoying.
I'd suggest going with an accordion of collapsible sections like below:
...
2
I think you have covered most of the important topics already in a high level description. You can perhaps consider the following, although I suspect they are specific cases of the items that you already list. I am assuming the perspective of someone with a very detailed technical understanding of the optimisation task, but who may not know how to tune ...
2
I think you need to go verbal for this; icons may be not enough, the hover needs to be self-explanatory. The pattern you have provided is also no good because there is a chance that user moves the cursor too far so that the hover menu disappears (it's the same problem as with providing horizontal second level for a menu).
Selecting one category and ...
2
I suggest moving global actions (Enable/Disable All) to separate part of the UI.
Then you have two category states: Enabled and Disabled
When disabled, click to enable.
When enabled, hovering over the icon/label gives a dropdown with two options; "Enable only this" and "Disable"
download bmml source – Wireframes created with Balsamiq ...
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