Sometimes, I wonder why PalmSource had to make FrmAlert and FrmCustomAlert so easy to use and call – if they wouldnt be so easy to do, the Palm OS world could just be a better place.

Deleting a file in a popular PalmOS image viewer first pops up this(useful) conformation dialog:
 Annoying alert dialogs   Part 255k25

When the delete process is completed, however, the program proceeds to tell me how it just deleted x images successfully from my handheld:
 Annoying alert dialogs   Part 255k25

When doing alerts, you should be very careful not to slow users down. If you feel that a dialog could be annoying, either leave it out or add a ‘Don’t show again checkbox’. Your users will love you for it!

Related posts:

  1. The most annoying dialog
  2. On popping up a modal alert dialog in the middle of a very long process
  3. On annoying store clerks
  4. Training wheels…or why people rarely drive unicycles
  5. Stupid & in love with widgets

5 Responses to “Annoying alert dialogs – Part 255k25”

  1. Actually, the “3 of 3 files deleted” message is quite logical. Quite often, a file or more can’t be deleted for some reason… and so the exception would be noted there.

  2. I agree with both Tam and someguy. The compromise is to have the option (somewhere) to never show the confirmation dialog if the operation is successful.

  3. Hi,
    but why not just show the alert when a file didnt get deleted. This way, the user wouldnt get trained to click OK automatically…

    Best regards
    Tam Hanna

  4. What I really dislike is the FileZ delete dialog:you select 40~50 files, then a dialog asks “Are you sure you want to delete 47 files?”. You’re likely to end deleting a whole folder you didn’t want to delete just because you missed clicking an item, and a file/folder count doesn’t help when there are just too many files.

    A nice dialog which lets you review the files/folders you are going to delete is what’s needed here. Vista doesn’t have it. Gnome doesn’t have it. BeOS doesn’t have it. Only KDE has it.

  5. Hi,
    mind giving us a screenshot?

    Best regards
    Tam Hanna

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