4 ms·

My problem with lots of these experiences is that they're still boilerplate (whether verbose or not) and require me to apply a conditional that the computer sho

My problem with lots of these experiences is that they're still boilerplate (whether verbose or not) and require me to apply a conditional that the computer should tell me about. For example, quitting a game: "Are you sure (Y/N)? (Unsaved progress may be lost)" Don't tell me that. Tell me whether unsaved progress will be lost and what it consists of. Likewise, when I'm typing a description in JIRA and want to follow a link "Are you sure you want to navigate away (Y/N)? (Unsaved changes may be lost)" Wait--do I have unsaved changes? If so, what are they? That's what I should be basing my decision on--what specifically will happen if I click Yea or Nay? Not a general exhortation to be careful because waves hands something bad might happen: YOU get to figure out if it will or not!

Jerrrry 4y ago
Windows Notepad has gotten that right since inception, but a more detailed report of the magnitude of action/changes/loss would definitely be a trivial and welcome feature. I think the overall idea is that smaller dialog in prompt boxes are somehow better to avoid "warning/agree fatigue" but ultimately it worsens the overall clarity of the function and purpose.
- partdavid 4y ago
  Sure, it would have to be thoughtful, careful, context-dependent and possibly optional (e.g. a "Details" toggle or something). But it would still be so much more useful to see "Do you want to navigate away? (580 characters of Description and two other fields will be lost)". Or "Do you want to quit? (0:28 mins of play will be lost)" versus just quitting when nothing will be lost because the auto-save is up to date. Just warning that something may or may not be destructive and leaving it up to me to guess how things work feels lazy to me, as a user. As a developer, I understand it entirely! And it would help avoid warning fatigue because the warning only appears when something actually is going to be lost--and then you can decide whether to keep it or not.
  - account42 4y ago
    > But it would still be so much more useful to see "Do you want to navigate away? (580 characters of Description and two other fields will be lost)". Or "Do you want to quit? (0:28 mins of play will be lost)" versus just quitting when nothing will be lost because the auto-save is up to date. For games, you could perhaps even omit the warning entirely if you just saved manually.
    - partdavid 4y ago
      Right--that's the heart of what I'm thinking. If there really isn't unsaved work or unsaved progress or whatever... don't warn me at all. That will also solve the habituation problem of always dismissing warnings--because when a warning appears, I'll know it's substantive.
account42 4y ago
> Don't tell me that. Tell me whether unsaved progress will be lost and what it consists of. "Are you sure you want to quit? Boo will miss you..."

Jerrrry 4y ago

Windows Notepad has gotten that right since inception, but a more detailed report of the magnitude of action/changes/loss would definitely be a trivial and welcome feature. I think the overall idea is that smaller dialog in prompt boxes are somehow better to avoid "warning/agree fatigue" but ultimately it worsens the overall clarity of the function and purpose.

partdavid 4y ago
Sure, it would have to be thoughtful, careful, context-dependent and possibly optional (e.g. a "Details" toggle or something). But it would still be so much more useful to see "Do you want to navigate away? (580 characters of Description and two other fields will be lost)". Or "Do you want to quit? (0:28 mins of play will be lost)" versus just quitting when nothing will be lost because the auto-save is up to date. Just warning that something may or may not be destructive and leaving it up to me to guess how things work feels lazy to me, as a user. As a developer, I understand it entirely! And it would help avoid warning fatigue because the warning only appears when something actually is going to be lost--and then you can decide whether to keep it or not.
- account42 4y ago
  > But it would still be so much more useful to see "Do you want to navigate away? (580 characters of Description and two other fields will be lost)". Or "Do you want to quit? (0:28 mins of play will be lost)" versus just quitting when nothing will be lost because the auto-save is up to date. For games, you could perhaps even omit the warning entirely if you just saved manually.
  - partdavid 4y ago
    Right--that's the heart of what I'm thinking. If there really isn't unsaved work or unsaved progress or whatever... don't warn me at all. That will also solve the habituation problem of always dismissing warnings--because when a warning appears, I'll know it's substantive.

account42 4y ago

> Don't tell me that. Tell me whether unsaved progress will be lost and what it consists of. "Are you sure you want to quit? Boo will miss you..."