On Jul 2, 2008, at 1:12 PM, Jeff Howard wrote:
Here's another context. The Nokia Series 60 UI Style Guide (from
2005) touches on this issue and prohibits the dimming of unavailable
menu items. They outline the rationale for hiding or erroring
instead and allow for either, depending on the situation.
* If the user searches for a function, even though it cannot be used
in the current situation, it is often better to display the option
and give an appropriate message if the user tries to access that
function.
An example of this is Digital Rights Management (DRM) protected
files: for example, sending commands shall be visible in the user
interface although sending such a file would not be allowed.
Appropriate DRM specific notifications are displayed if the user
attempts to select one of the options that the user is not allowed
to perform on DRM protected media objects. This is to facilitate end-
user’s learning of the DRM concept.
I guess I'm questioning whether error messages are the correct way to
"teach" users anything. Seems like the "slap on the wrist" method of
learning. I've always been a bigger fan of the Poke Yoke Principle
myself, which says to not allow users to make "mistakes" at all if
possible. Disabling (and I guess hiding as well) do that.
Dan
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