« Return to Thread: Hiding and Disabling Menu Items
Re: Hiding and Disabling Menu Items
by Jeff Garbers
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I was surprised at this comment by Joel also. The best solution, as
far as I'm concerned, is to have items be disabled -- don't expect
users to select things just to be told why they don't work -- but
offer a tool tip showing why the item is disabled if you hover over it
or select it. The code already knows why the thing's disabled.
I was also surprised at a comment by John Gruber ("Daring Fireball")
on this:
> Spolsky’s suggestion is also predicated on the assumption that the
> user is stupid. Better is to assume that the user is clever and
> curious and will be able to figure out for themself why a certain
> command is currently disabled.
Yeah, that's it. If people don't know why some command is disabled,
they must be stupid. Clever and curious users will be EAGER to explore
for several minutes trying to figure out why the command is disabled.
It's like a game - who wouldn't want to play?
On Jul 1, 2008, at 5:02 PM, Dan Saffer wrote:
> Joel ("On Software") says,
>
> "A long time ago, it became fashionable, even recommended, to
> disable menu items when they could not be used.
> Don't do this. Users see the disabled menu item that they want to
> click on, and are left entirely without a clue of what they are
> supposed to do to get the menu item to work.
>
> Instead, leave the menu item enabled. If there's some reason you
> can't complete the action, the menu item can display a message
> telling the user why."
>
> <http://www.joelonsoftware.com/items/2008/07/01.html>
>
> I agree about the hiding, but I don't think I necessarily agree
> about the disabling. What is missing from his critique is how "the
> menu item can display a message telling the user why." Does he mean
> pop-ups? Tool tips?
>
> I'd rather set the users' expectations correctly than to have them
> click on a menu item and have a pop up appear telling them why they
> can't do that. A really long tooltip: "If you want to Paste an
> object, first you need to unlock this layer." is definitely better,
> but could have tons of conditionals.
>________________________________________________________________
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far as I'm concerned, is to have items be disabled -- don't expect
users to select things just to be told why they don't work -- but
offer a tool tip showing why the item is disabled if you hover over it
or select it. The code already knows why the thing's disabled.
I was also surprised at a comment by John Gruber ("Daring Fireball")
on this:
> Spolsky’s suggestion is also predicated on the assumption that the
> user is stupid. Better is to assume that the user is clever and
> curious and will be able to figure out for themself why a certain
> command is currently disabled.
Yeah, that's it. If people don't know why some command is disabled,
they must be stupid. Clever and curious users will be EAGER to explore
for several minutes trying to figure out why the command is disabled.
It's like a game - who wouldn't want to play?
On Jul 1, 2008, at 5:02 PM, Dan Saffer wrote:
> Joel ("On Software") says,
>
> "A long time ago, it became fashionable, even recommended, to
> disable menu items when they could not be used.
> Don't do this. Users see the disabled menu item that they want to
> click on, and are left entirely without a clue of what they are
> supposed to do to get the menu item to work.
>
> Instead, leave the menu item enabled. If there's some reason you
> can't complete the action, the menu item can display a message
> telling the user why."
>
> <http://www.joelonsoftware.com/items/2008/07/01.html>
>
> I agree about the hiding, but I don't think I necessarily agree
> about the disabling. What is missing from his critique is how "the
> menu item can display a message telling the user why." Does he mean
> pop-ups? Tool tips?
>
> I'd rather set the users' expectations correctly than to have them
> click on a menu item and have a pop up appear telling them why they
> can't do that. A really long tooltip: "If you want to Paste an
> object, first you need to unlock this layer." is definitely better,
> but could have tons of conditionals.
>
Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)!
To post to this list ....... discuss@...
Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe
List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines
List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
« Return to Thread: Hiding and Disabling Menu Items
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