Use verbs on buttons in dialog boxes.
We all know the Ok and Cancel buttons that are used in dialog boxes. Using these two buttons, the user can agree or disagree with the next program action. However, using the “Yes” and “No” buttons in the dialog boxes is not so convenient for the user. Instead, it is better to use verbs in the inscriptions on the buttons. I will demonstrate this with a concrete example.
Here is a dialog box that shows WordPad in Windows if you try to exit it without saving changes made to the file.
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The editor asks if he should save the changes. At the bottom of the window we see three buttons “Yes”, “No” and “Cancel”. The purpose of these buttons becomes clear after reading the dialog message above. By themselves, they carry little sense, as you need to know what you agree with (Yes) or disagree with (No).
And here is an example of a similar Mac OS X dialog box. I use TextEdit, an analogue of WordPad, and again I try to exit without saving changes to the file:
The message is similar to what we have already seen in Windows, although it gives more details, explaining what happens if you refuse to save changes. However, we are interested in the inscriptions on the buttons. All inscriptions contain verbs - “Don't save” (Don't save), “Cancel” (Cancel) and “Save” (Save). They all carry some meaning, even without the message above.
How does this affect usability? In the first case, you would actually need to read all the inscriptions in the dialog box before you could decide which button to press. In the second example, you can understand what the application is asking for by simply reading the labels on the buttons — you don’t even need to read the message text to make a decision. This not only saves time, but also makes the selection process easier - the buttons tell you exactly what will happen after clicking on them.
This is a simple example of using Windows and OS X, but the principle applies to all applications and web applications as well. Just use the verbs on your buttons or links and save time for your users.
UPD : Moved to the blog User Interface Design and Usability
Here is a dialog box that shows WordPad in Windows if you try to exit it without saving changes made to the file.
')
The editor asks if he should save the changes. At the bottom of the window we see three buttons “Yes”, “No” and “Cancel”. The purpose of these buttons becomes clear after reading the dialog message above. By themselves, they carry little sense, as you need to know what you agree with (Yes) or disagree with (No).
And here is an example of a similar Mac OS X dialog box. I use TextEdit, an analogue of WordPad, and again I try to exit without saving changes to the file:
The message is similar to what we have already seen in Windows, although it gives more details, explaining what happens if you refuse to save changes. However, we are interested in the inscriptions on the buttons. All inscriptions contain verbs - “Don't save” (Don't save), “Cancel” (Cancel) and “Save” (Save). They all carry some meaning, even without the message above.
How does this affect usability? In the first case, you would actually need to read all the inscriptions in the dialog box before you could decide which button to press. In the second example, you can understand what the application is asking for by simply reading the labels on the buttons — you don’t even need to read the message text to make a decision. This not only saves time, but also makes the selection process easier - the buttons tell you exactly what will happen after clicking on them.
This is a simple example of using Windows and OS X, but the principle applies to all applications and web applications as well. Just use the verbs on your buttons or links and save time for your users.
UPD : Moved to the blog User Interface Design and Usability
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/40079/
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