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Yes, I know it sounds ridiculous but let me explain what I want to do!

The app that I work on is quite massive but also quite out of date in terms of the front-end. The worst thing about the app is the fact that it has a fixed width of 960px.

Now, I'll be launching a new feature that is designed only for a few admin users from our office and they all have high-res 21'+ screens and therefore 960px only takes about 50% of their screen. Normally it's not a huge problem but in this case, they'll see relatively big grid of products and they'll have to go through each one and do some actions. The grid has 6 columns and most of them include quite a lot of data so it would be really helpful to make this particular page 100% width.

I hope it makes sense so far..

I actually took some time while I was developing this page and I've decided to break our old standards and make the code much more flexible so now only the wrapper has a fixed width and as soon as the wrapper becomes fluid, the stuff inside stretches nicely across the screen.

Now, this is only a prototype and I don't want to force people to use this fluid version, especially because this isn't the only feature that they use and as I mentioned the rest of the site isn't fluid.

I thought about putting a simple button saying Try the new look or something similar which makes sense but... The people who are going to use this page/feature have a very boring task and I'm doing my best to make this page a bit more friendly.

So I had this thought about putting a button in an unusual place saying Don't click me and this button would trigger the fluid view.

We're planning to redesign the whole app this year and responsive design is our top priority so this would give them a sneak preview of what we'll be doing in near future.

So... what do you guys think?

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  • So, it's kind of an 'easter egg' then? – JonW♦ Jun 28 '13 at 9:55
  • That's correct :) – Adaz Jun 28 '13 at 9:58
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    We ain't Alice in Wonderland, and this button isn't another mushroom. When I see such a button in an app, I a) don't click it, b) close the app ASAP, c) uninstall the app promptly. Serious developers don't put such stuff in serious applications. – Deer Hunter Jun 28 '13 at 12:23
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    What's more, I see no actual benefit in a sneak preview. Either you have a new look and a new version that works, or you don't. Very few users are interested in vaporware. – Deer Hunter Jun 28 '13 at 12:25
  • I wish it was that simple :) I do want to give them this option, especially on this page as it can potentially increase their productivity. I know what you're saying and I agree with the behavior that you've described but it isn't really the same scenario that I'm facing here. – Adaz Jun 28 '13 at 13:26
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I understand your justification for a "Do not click me" button. If curiosity is exactly the emotion you'd like to instill in the users when they see this button, perhaps you could try something along the lines of "Sneak peek" or "We're changing" or "Behold, the future is here". This way, you are not misleading your users. Your intention is also received as positive gesture, the users get what they expected.

As someone who designs and uses software (websites included) I hate surprises under false labels, they are a double edged sword.

"sneak peek" (with an icon) will work like a charm as along as you design the button (make it unique) in a way that makes the user see it and wanna put his/her mouse over it.

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    Nice! I really like your thoughts! And you're right about surprises under false labels – Adaz Jun 28 '13 at 11:00
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    I'd also not put this in a button, but as an additionnal item in the "help" menu, next to (or in the popup of) "about..." for example – Olivier Dulac Jun 28 '13 at 14:32
  • @OlivierDulac's suggestion. Yes valid point - keep it in the footer or generally away from hot spots. – Rayraegah Jun 28 '13 at 14:45
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While "Try the new look" may be too enticing, everyone is going to want to click "Don't click me". Furthermore, for the users that you want to start using it now, "Don't click me" gives no indication of what it does. Since you'll have to inform those users anyway to navigate to some obscure location and click on the "Don't click me" button, you might as well give it a more descriptive name (but still misleading if you don't want everyone to try it), like "Switch versions". It sounds like a professional application, so my argument is that the text "Don't click me" would appear a bit childish in the context.

I agree with putting it somewhere obscure. Any link right on the home screen would be noticeable and attract more attention, but users who specifically want to change to this version should have to go out of their way through a menu, to their settings, switch a tab, and then find the option, for example. If you will need to inform some of your select admin users how to get to it, then there is no need to conceal what it does.

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  • Also, if you really like the misleading "Don't click me" over something more descriptive, I just thought of "Coming soon" - Technically the feature that will be accessible by that button is coming soon and it wouldn't seem like something clickable, except to the users who know that it is. – sacohe Jun 28 '13 at 10:12
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    Some good points here, thanks! In terms of the app, that's true, it's quite professional and the licence is quite expensive therefore only bigger companies use it. On the other hand, this feature is design specifically for a small group of young people in our company, that's why I don't really mind if it's childish as long as it's something different from their day-to-day routine. I like the "Coming soon" idea and I think this would also suit client-facing features. – Adaz Jun 28 '13 at 10:40
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I help maintain a moderate size line of business application. While the search code was being developed we added a button that displayed the SQL it intended to run in a messagebox. This button was labelled "Don't click", or similar. I have no idea how many users clicked it because it didn't do anything very drastic. I did have at least one occasion of a user having problems with a search and tried to get them to click it so they could send me the SQL. I had to persuade them that it was safe to click the button!
We have now changed the button to say "Show SQL". There are a few other buttons like this that have captions like "Tech info". We also normally make them smaller than the standard button in the application.
So, my answer is no, you should not have a button that says dont click me. (humour doesn't normally belong in line of business applications.) Either the function is something that a user might want / need to use, in which case it should be captioned accordingly. Or it is something a normal user should not be able to use, in which case it should be hidden if the user lacks the permissions to use it.

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I'm aware there's an accepted answer already, but I can only feel obliged to add on this anyway. I don't really see the benefaction of adding a button to 'switch to a new style/layout'.

All psychology aside, isn't it far more logical to find a back-end solution? Depending on the code, this could easily be done with something along the lines of a SESSION-variable, a cookie or just a different URI (if it's web based).

This might not be the answer you're actually looking for, but as this is filed under UX, it does not lead to any confusion with the regular users.

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