cjard
Well-known member
- Joined
- Apr 25, 2006
- Messages
- 7,081
- Programming Experience
- 10+
For the second time I've just lost a posting because I've written it in the Quick Reply box at the bottom of the thread and then clicked on the bright, highly visible button..
[+ Reply To Thread]
..that is immediately above the quick reply box. Call it the fault of my own stupidity for clicking a button when I know the "post reply" button is tucked away out of view, (much smaller and more blended in in the bottom right), but i think it's a problem to put a button whose text reads as "add reply to thread" very near the box you write in, and have that button CLEAR the text box you write in.
So many ways this glaring HCI flaw can be resolved:
DONT clear the box, just focus it
Warn the user that what they have typed will be lost
Remove the button from the bottom of the thread - there's no point in having a button whose only "useful" action is to focus on a text box that is 10 pixels below it, especially when that button comes with a destructive action of deleting anything typed by the user. If I can see the button, I can see the box 99% of the time
Actually, just remove the button completely - the one at the top of the thread has similarly nasty side effects in that it encourages replying to a thread without reading it. Oh and it irretrievably deletes what the user typed.
This is a throwback to the days of having a "cancel/clear" button right next to the Submit button
[+ Reply To Thread]
..that is immediately above the quick reply box. Call it the fault of my own stupidity for clicking a button when I know the "post reply" button is tucked away out of view, (much smaller and more blended in in the bottom right), but i think it's a problem to put a button whose text reads as "add reply to thread" very near the box you write in, and have that button CLEAR the text box you write in.
So many ways this glaring HCI flaw can be resolved:
DONT clear the box, just focus it
Warn the user that what they have typed will be lost
Remove the button from the bottom of the thread - there's no point in having a button whose only "useful" action is to focus on a text box that is 10 pixels below it, especially when that button comes with a destructive action of deleting anything typed by the user. If I can see the button, I can see the box 99% of the time
Actually, just remove the button completely - the one at the top of the thread has similarly nasty side effects in that it encourages replying to a thread without reading it. Oh and it irretrievably deletes what the user typed.
This is a throwback to the days of having a "cancel/clear" button right next to the Submit button
