Alternative to alert / confirm / error dialogs?

Question

We all know that warnings are bad. If you did not know this, read this.

Alerts are used to communicate with the user. So, if we do not use them, what is a good alternative?

I would like to get a good list of good alternatives to choose from when implementing something that requires communication with the user.

As an example, I will give one example for each:

Case: we need to check the user’s action before we can continue.

Solution: instead of showing a warning window when the user clicks ok / next / submit, it shows a clearly marked (for example, red on white bg) "frame" around / next to the user input that has an incorrect input with informative text about what's wrong. To facilitate the user's task, this question should receive focus and, if necessary, return to viewing.

Answer 1

Here is the hierarchy for handling user errors or warnings used to validate user input in a field.

• Remove the item that may cause an error. Do you really need the date of birth of users? Can you just as well use something else that doesn’t need to be checked, for example, the select buttons for “Under 18 years old” and “18 or more”?

• Prevent error. Cannot enter invalid input in the first place. For example, use the drop-down list or “image” fields to discard any inappropriate characters (such as letters for a phone number).

• Accept the input and possibly correct it automatically and repeat the result back to the user. Do something from the input. If the user enters 4-14 # 008 for the date, automatically adjust it before April 14, 2008. If the format does not match the version number, check its release number and find the appropriate version number. If this does not match your idea of ​​a valid address, well, just assume that it is (possibly for another country). Does it really matter if the number of births of users is distorted?

• Provide Undo, not verification, clearly showing the consequences of what the user has done, and give a clear path for cancellation. When the user enters the number of stocks to trade, show the dollar value next to him if the user confuses stocks with dollars. Keep fields editable so the user can fix it.

• Provide warning text and errors in the main window or the web page itself; the text should be explicit, not disorienting, modeless and automatically disappearing when correcting the error. When an unrecognized date is entered, underline it in red and place the text next to it, indicating “unrecognized date”, possibly including the “Help” link for more information.

• Modal message box.

Answer 2

Many alerts, and all those that annoy me, basically hide the flaws of the base program.

This usually boils down to iso providing proper support cancellation, "Are you sure?" a warning window is displayed.

In short, make everything as forgiving (canceled) as possible, most of the alert boxes that you want to add will no longer be needed.

Answer 3

I think the most important thing is to have useful messages in a simple (unprofessional) language. “Do you want technical equipment” does not help.

In addition, your messages match the style of the rest of the application and look different than all other fields that hinder user productivity. This is against the usual rule to make your application look familiar to the user, but if you want them to read the message, it should look different.

If you can avoid using a modal dialog box, do it. This will make the time you need to use seems more important.

Always draw attention to an item that needs attention when necessary. For example, if you perform any field check, give focus to the violation field.

Answer 4

How about this: Monologue and Transparent Messages by Asa Raskin.

This article talks about messages for "monolog" mailboxes and their alternative.

This is pretty interesting.

Here's what the implementation looks like. Read the article for more information.

Answer 5

I really like that the ASP.NET validator controls the end result (although they really are a bitch). Work similar to what you describe by placing a star next to the entrance with an additional message or a summary of the messages displayed on the page, rather than the notification method.

I will always support your posts on the page / form, if possible. Timelines may dictate differently.

Answer 6

The status bar message and color / text / element changes blink to indicate problems similar to the @Rob example using ASP.NET. And it’s best to use a multi-level undo / redo system.

Answer 7

I'm not a big fan of warning boxes, primarily because they tend to differ from usability apps. As Alan Cooper said in About Face, this is tantamount to smoothing the user’s head and calling him an idiot.

Bad data notification, on the other hand, is a critical application need. First of all, in my opinion, you should try to prevent the entry of bad data whenever it is humanly possible. For most platforms, there are many tools for third-party developers (ASP.NET, .NET WinForms, WPF, Java Swing, JSP, etc.) that will help with this. (Although it is not very popular around these parts, I actually became partial for Infragistics NetAdvantage.)

Depending on the choice of platform, you have many options for viewing user interfaces. Some of them were mentioned: using the status bar of your application, indicating a problem in the field itself, etc.

I am a .NET guy, so obviously my contribution here will be seasoned by the environment.

I am a huge fan of web control control. They provide a lot of notifications, without a too intrusive interface. Combining the simple Text * property, the detailed ErrorMessage property ErrorMessage and the well-placed and visually obvious ValidationSummary , I get all the validation with virtually no user nightmares. These controls for those who do not work in .NET perform various checks against the entered data and display their Text properties wherever the control is located on the page (usually next to the control being checked). The ErrorMessage property is located in one ValidationSummary , usually located at the top of the page.

In WinForms, I used a combination of ErrorProvider control-style pop-ups and Outlook-style Infragistics' popups. In my last WinForms application, I use two different types of pop-ups: one is translucent and appears in the lower right corner. It has a green checkmark icon and exists to notify the user of successful messages. (My users do not trust computers, if they don’t see any confirmation, they think that the machine has eaten their data. Long history.) These fields disappear after seven seconds, or the user can close them manually.

The second view of the popup does not have transparency, the red X appears in the upper right corner. This is where I show validation errors. In addition, the ErrorProvider control displays an icon next to each field in which validation is not performed, and hovering over that control displays its specific error message. (These specific messages also appear in a pop-up window.) Pop-up error windows disappear after 15 seconds.

About one modular warning field that I use in this application is when it crashes (really unhandled exceptions that are currently practically impossible) and when the user wants to close a dirty window.

Here are some of the methods I used to avoid the warnings. The user can ignore confirmation messages (making their life easier), and they are not motivated by verification errors - they cannot save their data until they are corrected, but they will not be confiscated by head. And, of course, whenever possible, I prevent verification errors by using appropriate masked controls that prevent invalid writing.

Answer 8

Joel Spolsky advocated the addition of additional pop-ups to tell the user why they can’t complete the action and not turn off the action (menu, button, link). Therefore, I think that disabling actions that users should not do is a good way to get rid of a whole host of pop-ups.