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Re: Making the correct button the default button?
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Re: Making the correct button the default button?


  • Subject: Re: Making the correct button the default button?
  • From: Phillip Hutchings <email@hidden>
  • Date: Tue, 10 Feb 2004 23:36:10 +1300

On 10/02/2004, at 10:14 PM, Jens Bauer wrote:
> On Tuesday, Feb 10, 2004, at 08:02 Europe/Copenhagen, Phillip
> Hutchings wrote:
>
>> Read the Apple HIG. Having cancel as the default button is STRONGLY
>> discouraged - it breaks what users expect. Even emptying the trash in
>> the Finder has 'OK' as the default button.
>
> Not everything can be generalized; just one sentence will explain what
> I mean...
> "Do you really want to erase all your harddisks?" [ Cancel ][ OK ]

I would contend that this situation calls for no default button. I know
the idea of having cancel as default is to stop users blindly
dismissing a dialog box without reading it, but it's damn irritating
when I know what it says.

You're better off with no default, as after pressing return and seeing
nothing happen, the user only needs to grab the mouse and confirm, not
invoke the process again wondering why it didn't happen.

And as an example of this, I have successfully had to confirm erasing a
disc three times from habitually pressing return when I know a dialog
box is about to appear. I've got the timing down to an art now - the
sheets don't even stop animating :P
--
Phillip Hutchings
email@hidden
http://www.sitharus.com/

[demime 0.98b removed an attachment of type application/pkcs7-signature which had a name of smime.p7s]
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  • Follow-Ups:
    • Re: Making the correct button the default button?
      • From: m <email@hidden>
References: 
 >Re: Making the correct button the default button? (From: Jens Bauer <email@hidden>)

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