Making buttons more usable ...

"We're all familiar with the "OK" and "Cancel" buttons you get on dialog boxes. Simple labels that ask us whether we agree or disagree to the next action the application wants to take. The interesting thing is that using exclamations like "OK" and "No" isn't all that usable. Instead, you should use verbs. Let me illustrate this with an example.

Here's a save dialog that we get in WordPad on Windows when you make some changes to a document try to quit without saving:

Quiting without saving inquiry - Windows Notepad Save Button

It asks you whether you want to save the changes. At the bottom we get the "Yes", "No" and "Cancel" buttons. Their function is obvious once you read the dialog message above. On their own however, they mean very little because you need to know what you're saying "Yes" or "No" to.

Here's a very similar dialog in Mac OS X. Here I'm using a WordPad equivalent, TextEdit, and again I'm trying to quit without saving the changes to my document: (below)

The message is similar to the Windows dialog — though it goes into more detail, explaining what will happen if you decline — but what's more interesting is the button labels. They're all verbs — "Don't Save", "Cancel" and "Save". They all mean something even when disconnected from the message above.

How does this affect usability? Well — in the first example, you'd actually have to read the dialog box message before making a decision about which button to press. In the second example, you know what the dialog box is about just by reading the button labels — you don't even need to read the message above to decide what to do. This not only saves time, but makes each choice clearer — the buttons tell you exactly what's going to happen."    (Continued via The Usability Post, Dmitry Fadeyev)    [Usability Resources]

Quiting without saving inquiry in TextEdit - Mac OS X Save Button

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Flossmanuals.net is a new wiki help authoring/publishing tool hybrid that, as far as I know, is completely unique. The site is more than a wiki. It allows groups of authors to create specific chapters independently. You can then remix the chapters into any arrangement and selection you want through a drag-and-drop interface. Finally, you can export the selection as a PDF file. Alternatively, you can embed the manual on a separate site using an API.

FLOSS stands for Free/Libre Open Source Software, and this site announces itself as a host for open source software documentation (”free manuals about free software”).

Why not use traditional help authoring tools? Often times open source software projects can’t afford the expensive authoring tools more commonly used to document commercial software. Additionally, developers — who often write the documentation — don’t want to learn complicated authoring tools. The wiki interface is simple yet flexible. Publishing multiple versions of guides is easy. Read more about FLOSSmanuals.net here.

In exploring the site, I think the concept is impressive. It’s the next generation in wiki authoring. However, right now the site is very young. Additionally, by limiting the scope to open source, the authors limit their potential for adoption. The same software could have market appeal for commercial group authoring situations.

Anne Gentle is one of the go-to people for information on Flossmanuals. You can read the results of their “booksprint” (a long documentation writing party) on Anne’s blog.

Keith Soltys wrote about Floss and linked to numerous other writers, including Charles Jeter and Janet Swisher. We also talked about FLOSSmanuals.net briefly on the last podcast.

—-

Update: I just published this post and Jane looks over my shoulder and says “Floss manuals? They teach you how to floss?”

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Go to a medical equipment website and explore the site content. Most have details about their compliance activities and most will name the regulations. Bonnie Granat http://www.GranatEdit.com ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Compon...

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&aq=t&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGIH,GGIH: 2006-49,GGIH:en&q=FDA+documentation+compliance ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ComponentOne Doc-To-Help gives you everything you need to author and publ...

What kind of equipment? Is it laboratory/diagnostic, or treatment? The requirements for the two categories are very different. Gene Kim-Eng ----- Original Message ----- From: "Chris Morton" ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^...

Have any of you ever had a position requiring FDA documentation compliance? I know nothing about the topic and have an interview scheduled this coming Monday morning. The company develops and sells medical equipment. The best I could find by Googling, it w...

If you have a system that actually changes the environment in which it functions (for example, a weather control system), then there could be conditions under which you might be demonstrating the system *on* its environment as well as in it. Gene Kim-Eng -...

Sean was abolutly right that you have to use styles and spacing consistantly. His answer wasn't as flip as you might think it was. At my last job I had a project where I had to write two upgrade paths that shared probably 80% of their content. Rather than...

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Thanks, Richard and Peter. It's settled. Happily. Bonnie Granat http://www.GranatEdit.com ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ComponentOne Doc-To-Help gives you everything you need to author and publish quality Help, Web, and print c...

I'm thinking that this question is not unlike the issue of whether Windows runs on a 386 architecture (as computer-science geeks would hold) or the 386 architecture "runs on Windows." The latter pronouncement comes from people I'd rather not think about, I...

whether I think you _are_ correct. Take a look at: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/environment An environment is that which is around you, thus you are _within_ it. such demo I'd change that to either: "Sometimes we're required to demonstrate syste...

Michael-- At Selectica, I single-sourced 4 1/4 books from one family of FrameMaker 5.5 files. I started with an API guide for use with the C language; the API accepted typical parameters and returned a data structure. Then they developed the same API (sam...

In a book I am editing about agile testing, I am changing "on an environment" to "in an environment," but I am beginning to wonder whether I'm correct. Certainly in normal English, "in" is correct, but in some situations, such as the following, is "ont; e...

He's here: http://www.anitian.com/corp/exec.htm And as he would no coubt tell us all: "Now, get back to work, you!!" ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ComponentOne Doc-To-Help gives you everything you need to author and publish qua...

Hi Rob, Years ago I purchased the book, "Standards for Online Communication" by JoAnn Hackos & Dawn Stevens. It is copyrighted 1997 -- I have no idea if it has been updated. However, it provides the information you are requesting. I haven't read it in man...

not Certainly, and for reasons that should be obvious. How useful would the archives be if they contained only questions and no answers? It also needs to be said, apparently, that list members offer answers, advice, opinions, and the occasional off-topic ...