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Different Confirmation Dialogs

If you're like me, you click "OK" without reading.
 
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Confirmation dialogs are great things for keeping you from unwittingly deleting those "important" pictures, or more importantly, keeping you from sending said pictures to everyone on your e-mail list. The problem is that they're ubitquitous - who doesn't absentmindedly click "OK" to whatever box comes up?

The proposed solution - for dialogs that are really, truly important should have an option to randomly change the input needed to bypass the confirmation box (toggleable of course for power users). It would be something as simple as "Press the 'A' key to continue". This would prevent people from accidentally getting themselves into trouble in this way.

Qinopio, May 19 2004

Whatever Button http://www.halfbake...a/whatever_20button
[DrCurry, Oct 04 2004]

Same Idea Configurable_20_22Grandma_22_20level
[dev45, Oct 04 2006]

[link]






       Good idea. How about changing the message to include a random number of double negatives - along the lines of "If the statemement 'it would not be incorrect to state that you do not oppose an intention to avoid failing to prevent the forestalling of the deletion' is not an accurate misrepresentation of a view you do not hold then please press the 'A' key."?
dobtabulous, May 19 2004
  

       I suspect I would skim read the warning message until it got to the bit where it said "Press the 'A' key" and hit it.. and then regret it, in time honoured fashion.
neilp, May 19 2004
  

       Baked by Winzip: they swop the "I agree" etc boxes around.

Computer: Are you sure?
Human: yes.

Computer: Are you really sure?
Human: YES.

Computer: Are you really, really sure?
Human: YES, YES, YES, DAMMIT!!

Pause

Human: Hmmm. Actually, on second thoughts, maybe not.
Computer: Told you so.
Ling, May 19 2004
  

       I haven't bought it. My tolerance for irritating messages etc is boundless. I see it as a strength.
Harry Mudd, May 19 2004
  

       Nope -- computer users shouldn't be forced to do anything .. the OS should continue putting up the warning messages. It's the user that chooses to read them or not.   

       POWER TO THE PEOPLE!
britboy, May 19 2004
  

       I agree with [britboy].
Anyone who is daft enough to click yes without reading the dialogue deserves not to have stuff!
MikeOliver, May 19 2004
  

       We did this before. And there is nothing new to the concept.
DrCurry, May 19 2004
  

       In a previous soujourn here, I recall a decent scheme being applied to the "Destroy Account" function: present a series of generically labeled (A,B,C,D,etc.) buttons and include instructions in the dialog box text stating which of the buttons to select to confirm the action in progress.   

       A grid of unlabeled buttons might do the job of forcing the user to read before deleting those important pictures. "If it is indeed the true desire of your heart and mind to cause the selected digital representations of real world images to no longer be available through ordinary means, click the button in the 4th column, 3rd row, then click button in the 7th column, 2nd row."
Gromit, May 19 2004
  

       The problem here is stuff you want to delete or permanently remove never seams to leave, that vital document or picture will vanish at the drop of a hat.
engineer1, May 19 2004
  

       Baked by Apple: they have "verb dialogs". For example, if you were closing a text editor but you have made changes to the current file, the command buttons would be "Save" and "Don't Save". For people who don't read the rest of the dialog (for whatever reason) this is immediately clear.   

       It's just stupid inane companies that forget about the accessibility and usability aspects of their new, "fantastic" GUIs that don't do this.
Jambam, Jul 29 2005
  
      
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