73
votes
Why is being "on hold" on the telephone not made less annoying?
It's just a matter of costs and resources.
In germany for example it's really common these days to get:
approximate waiting time in minutes
news regarding other products to keep you "busy" and maybe ...
- 10.8k
36
votes
Accepted
How do you convey that the minimum size of an input is X characters?
The best approach is to inform the user about these rules in plain language next to respective input fields.
I would suggest enforcing a minimum and maximum character limit to handle edge cases and ...
- 3,599
30
votes
Why is being "on hold" on the telephone not made less annoying?
Very practical reasons:
It is worth more investing money in actually fixing the wait times (i.e. hiring more personnel), than investing in infrastructure that needs to be maintained/connected to ...
- 1,987
24
votes
Why is being "on hold" on the telephone not made less annoying?
Some queue systems already do tell you where you are in the queue - I have encountered this calling my local doctor.
However, with some places you call, the queue system is complex - a friend of mine ...
- 340
24
votes
Should disabled buttons give feedback when clicked?
In the end, both ways lead to the same result. Whether it's an inline error or maybe a bubble with feedback, the user gets to know why he can't proceed (which adheres to visibility of system status).
...
- 6,806
12
votes
Accepted
When evaluating prototypes, how can I ensure the user evaluates specific aspects instead of the product/design as a whole?
User performance not user opinions
The solution is to do a proper usability test. Don’t show users a prototype and ask them what they think of it. That’s asking them to imagine what it would be like ...
- 37.7k
11
votes
Should disabled buttons give feedback when clicked?
If this weren't mobile, I'd say it would be better to have a message shown next to the disabled button saying
Please fill in the remaining required fields (marked with *)
or some such (...
- 211
10
votes
Which words to use to motivate visitors to comment?
Commenting is all about context. A few examples of websites encouraging people to generate content
On a social platform like Facebook, asking "What's on your
mind?" in the new-status box is an ...
- 593
9
votes
Accepted
Difference between Notice and Info messages?
I don't know if other people think about these conventions in the same way I do but the way I see them is.
Notice: Simply a statement that is non-actionable, use these to alert the user of something ...
- 15.3k
9
votes
Accepted
Should visited and unvisited links be of different color?
I do like the way you bring this topic on the table :D
This is a question from 3 years ago.
First thing I need to mention, because you mentioned it yourself: companies like Google, Reddit, Craiglist, ...
- 536
7
votes
When conducting user research/customer surveys, how do financial incentives affect quality and quantity of feedback?
General Summary
It's safe to generalize and suggest that both the positive and negative effects of incentive use on survey response rate and data quality can be described as mild to none.
Notes on ...
- 11.6k
7
votes
Should disabled buttons give feedback when clicked?
This is how the Google sign-up process does it. It should be very similar to your process. Note that the primary button is always enabled, it only changes its function!
You are presented with a ...
- 2,078
6
votes
Which words to use to motivate visitors to comment?
If the internet has taught us one thing it's that everyone has an opinion. It has also taught us that attention spans online are short so unless I feel that sharing my opinion is worth the effort I'll ...
- 15.8k
6
votes
Pushing back on attitudinal feedback?
There's an old saying, "Treat kind people kindly. Treat unkind people even more kindly." With the user interface, I think an analogy applies: "Take good advice seriously. Take bad advice even more ...
- 256
6
votes
Does the user want a notification when an action is performed successfully?
It is best to give some sort of feedback. The Netflix DVD Queue doesn't pop anything up, but it gives clear visual feedback that something has happened and that you can undo it.
Gmail provides an ...
- 9,024
6
votes
What is the true benefit of likes and dislikes count?
I disagree. The Like Button is a de facto feature to further exploit or empower the the role of the user for internet content. Its a democratic effect in reality.
And it serves several different ...
- 1,576
6
votes
Best order for smiley rating scale
My initial instinct is to go from sad to happy.
The only real argument I can provide is that it reflects a type of number line, with the neutral face being 0, positive numbers being smiley faces, and ...
- 1,564
6
votes
Why is being "on hold" on the telephone not made less annoying?
Most telephone services give an estimated or minimum waiting time. But I agree more feedback should be given. Something equivalent to a progress bar. Two possible options are :
The music can become ...
- 7,761
5
votes
Accepted
How to tell user there are no more results - infinite scroll
Instead of displaying a "load more" button, you can easily just put a phrase that says something like "end" such as:
download bmml source – Wireframes created with Balsamiq Mockups
Obviously, ...
- 5,425
5
votes
Accepted
Showing order confirmation after online food ordering
Normally when users submit something they expect a response, and they expect this response to match their inquiry. When users submit their order they expect to be told whether it was submitted ...
- 15.3k
5
votes
Accepted
How to handle undo when the change is not on screen
Ideally, a user should be either aware of what will be undone, or reminded of what will be undone.
If the user has changed the context of their work (i.e. scrolled out of view or changed views) or a ...
- 391
5
votes
Accepted
How do you decide whether you should show a success message or not?
The use of a success message is highly dependent on the action performed (its nature and importance), the context of use and your intended users.
For example, when changing account settings on a ...
- 116
5
votes
Accepted
How to get feedback from user for a very small change
I think a change like that is too small to use analytics tools on it.
Maybe inviting 5-10 or so people to your office and make a little test in within-subject design would be a good alternative to get ...
- 6,806
5
votes
Accepted
To success or not to success?
Do you need to put success message? Yes. You need to put success message.
When we use web; we actually have conversation with the applications we use. So when I have performed some action, the ...
- 16.2k
5
votes
Why is being "on hold" on the telephone not made less annoying?
I've certainly rung call centres where they do exactly this. A fair number of systems will interrupt the hold music every 30s or so to say where you are in the queue, as well as the obligatory "your ...
- 261
5
votes
Why is being "on hold" on the telephone not made less annoying?
I question the premise of the question. I find that it is being made less annoying in some cases. Most of the suggestions in the question are already commonplace (there are N people ahead of you in ...
- 2,546
5
votes
How to deny the usage of my product to a user?
We aim for delightful and pleasant experiences. Unfortunately, there are times where you have to deliver bad news to a user. There are a few things you can do to ease the sense of frustration and ...
- 9,841
5
votes
Should we explicitly alert the user that an operation they performed was successful/unsuccessful, even though it's implicitly obvious?
– We have a few buttons on our website that when clicked do somethings that are obvious... –
I understand and share what you say, but in accessibility the obvious has no place. What is obvious for one ...
- 17.7k
4
votes
Accepted
Aural Feedback, what is it?
I don't know the context, but generally speaking, in visual interfaces with aural enhancements, you have 2 parts: one is the Aural Aid, which is the set of instructions provided to the user in an ...
- 36.5k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible