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0 pointsCoolGuySteve11y ago0 comments

Another alternative is confirmation fatigue.

As in: I hit F6, "Do you want to reboot this?" dialog pops, I hit 'Y', "Do you really really want to reboot this?", I hit 'Y' again.

Instead of actually reading what it says, you just instead press F6-Y-Y in quick succession.

Modern interfaces sometimes make you type some kind of string to confirm, but most either use a password (like sudo) or some hardcoded string that everyone eventually memorizes.

But even today, Windows 7 only makes you click that one button in UAC, and most people probably do it without even thinking about it.

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djur11y ago

Whenever I implement a bulk delete feature I tell the user how many records they're about to delete and ask them to type it back in.

If it's possible they're trying to delete data from the wrong place (say, an administrative account that manages many customers) another safeguard is to have them select the name of the context (customer name, etc.) out of a list of four or five nonsense alternatives.

The user experience tends to involve a lot of double takes and rereading, which is precisely what I want.

alxndr11y ago

In another comment, derefr points out that GitHub similarly makes you type the name of the repo when you delete it.

btilly11y ago

I have idly considered addressing that problem when it really matters by asking multiple random questions whose answers need to be some combination of "Y" and "N" to proceed. With the result that you simply cannot engage in muscle memory.

Anyone using the app would hate me.

derefr11y ago

When you delete a github repo, you have to retype the fully-qualified name of the repo you want to delete. I think that's exactly the right level of annoyance: it makes sure that if you're mistaken about where you are, you realize it, and that if you're making a typo, you'll have to make it the same way twice.

jjoonathan11y ago

Not as much as we hate the person who made the decision to prevent phones/computers from turning on immediately when the battery is empty, even if they're plugged in :P

If I ever meet that person IRL... I might even go so far as to make a tasteless joke about committing physical violence in retaliation for the hassle they've caused me.

gridspy11y ago

There are good reasons for this

- When the battery has just started charging, the voltage will not be high enough for the phone to actually work, because the draw from the battery exceeds the plug pack input

- Sometimes when transmitting, the phone uses more power for a fraction of a second than the power pack can deliver. This surge of energy could come from the battery, but the battery is empty so it won't work correctly

- Having some amount of battery means the phone can soft-off correctly when the plug is removed suddenly. The alternative is an un-expected hard off which is usually bad. The user might experience data loss.

There are a bunch of grey areas around low voltage, such as flash writes failing marginally or radio not working correctly or partial saves. Much easier for the engineers and perhaps more reliable for the users to make them wait just a little.

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rickmode11y ago

I believe UAC works well even when a human always hits OK. The point is to make sure a human is there and trying to do something and not some malicious code.

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