DREWspective

Just now, at work, I received a "bug" (read: feature request) to add those "are you sure" dialogue boxes to a script.

(If you’re unaware, at the place I’m currently working everything is a "bug". You might work in such a company.)

The prompts would come up when moving and removing items from a category, and it got me thinking;

When are these prompts necessary?

For example, one thing I do straight away on a fresh installation of Windows (after getting the prompt) is to disable the prompt for deleting items to the Recycle Bin. If you delete files one at a time, or in different locations, seeing messages come up frequently can annoy you. When I say delete, I mean delete damnit!

However, there is always a prompt for when I want to delete items permanently; a very critical move, and where I want to be absolutely sure I haven’t made a mistake.

Often, it can feel condescending to be asked if you’re sure you want to close a program or save a file. One good example is in Word, Excel, Photoshop or Illustrator, when you’ve saved a file before printing it - and then get asked if you want to save it again if you close it.

There are some programs that allow you to disable certain prompts, but in my opinion not enough.

I say, when a dialogue box is necessary is mostly up to the user; sometimes they’d just like to get on with things and take responsibility for their actions, while others want to - or have to - be hand held. Either way, there will be those critical occasions where a prompt is necessary.