OK – Cancel or Cancel – OK? Councils of Jacob Nielsen.
Should the OK button be in front of the Cancel button or after it? Follow the instructions of the operating systems in this case is more important than improving the separately taken dialog box.
There are a lot of questions in the design of user interfaces that are not important for user experience. A classic example: the order of buttons in dialog boxes:
* OK / Cancel
* Cancel / OK
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Both options are reasonable, and people can argue for hours about their preferences:
* If you put OK first, it will correspond to the natural order of reading in all languages where words are read from left to right. Many other button combinations also have a natural progression (say, Yes / No or Earlier / Next). These buttons should always be arranged so that the reading order is logical - in this case, OK / Cancel. Moreover, if we assume that users need the OK button more often than Cancel, it is better to have this option first so that users who mainly use the keyboard and, in particular, the Tab button to navigate sites, can get to the desired button by one click less.
* If you put OK last, it will improve navigation, because the dialog box will “end” with its logical conclusion. In addition, as in the case of Previous / Next, OK is the choice that leads the user further, while Cancel returns it back. Thus, OK should be located in the same place as Next: on the right.
In such cases, it often doesn’t matter what you do: there are strong arguments for each option, and none of them will cause a catastrophe.
Dialog buttons for offline applications
As for application development, an illogical button layout can cost users a few minutes if they miss or misuse interface elements. In this question it is worth starting from the location of the buttons in the respective operating systems.
Unfortunately, the Windows Vista User Experience Guidelines are different from the Apple Human Interface Guidelines for OK / Cancel buttons:
* Windows puts OK first
* Apple puts OK last
If you are developing an offline application for one of these platforms, the issue is solved simply: Do what the platform developer tells you.
Web Application Dialog Buttons
If you are developing a web application, the dilemma is more difficult, but in this case it is worth adhering to the order established by the OS that most of your visitors use. Your server logs will show you the ratio of Windows users compared to Mac OS, Linux or FreeBSD on your website. Of course, Windows has many more users, so the logic in most situations is this:
* OK first, Cancel later, as in this screenshot from Microsoft Office 2007:
This screenshot illustrates two more rules regarding buttons in dialog boxes:
* It is better that the name of the button explains what it does, than to use words of a general nature (such as “OK”). The exact name serves as a “prompt prompt,” giving users more confidence that they are choosing the right action.
* Make the most frequently pressed buttons the default selection and highlight them (unless it can be dangerous; in such cases it is better for the user to select the desired button himself rather than inadvertently activate the unwanted one by accidentally pressing Enter).
There are a lot of questions in the design of user interfaces that are not important for user experience. A classic example: the order of buttons in dialog boxes:
* OK / Cancel
* Cancel / OK
')
Both options are reasonable, and people can argue for hours about their preferences:
* If you put OK first, it will correspond to the natural order of reading in all languages where words are read from left to right. Many other button combinations also have a natural progression (say, Yes / No or Earlier / Next). These buttons should always be arranged so that the reading order is logical - in this case, OK / Cancel. Moreover, if we assume that users need the OK button more often than Cancel, it is better to have this option first so that users who mainly use the keyboard and, in particular, the Tab button to navigate sites, can get to the desired button by one click less.
* If you put OK last, it will improve navigation, because the dialog box will “end” with its logical conclusion. In addition, as in the case of Previous / Next, OK is the choice that leads the user further, while Cancel returns it back. Thus, OK should be located in the same place as Next: on the right.
In such cases, it often doesn’t matter what you do: there are strong arguments for each option, and none of them will cause a catastrophe.
Dialog buttons for offline applications
As for application development, an illogical button layout can cost users a few minutes if they miss or misuse interface elements. In this question it is worth starting from the location of the buttons in the respective operating systems.
Unfortunately, the Windows Vista User Experience Guidelines are different from the Apple Human Interface Guidelines for OK / Cancel buttons:
* Windows puts OK first
* Apple puts OK last
If you are developing an offline application for one of these platforms, the issue is solved simply: Do what the platform developer tells you.
Web Application Dialog Buttons
If you are developing a web application, the dilemma is more difficult, but in this case it is worth adhering to the order established by the OS that most of your visitors use. Your server logs will show you the ratio of Windows users compared to Mac OS, Linux or FreeBSD on your website. Of course, Windows has many more users, so the logic in most situations is this:
* OK first, Cancel later, as in this screenshot from Microsoft Office 2007:
This screenshot illustrates two more rules regarding buttons in dialog boxes:
* It is better that the name of the button explains what it does, than to use words of a general nature (such as “OK”). The exact name serves as a “prompt prompt,” giving users more confidence that they are choosing the right action.
* Make the most frequently pressed buttons the default selection and highlight them (unless it can be dangerous; in such cases it is better for the user to select the desired button himself rather than inadvertently activate the unwanted one by accidentally pressing Enter).
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/40102/
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