Bad Dialog Design Epidemiology
Button names should correspond to the action the user performs when pressing the button—for example, Erase, Save, or Delete.
Apple Human Interface Guidelines: The Elements of an Alert
This guideline was first widely flouted by iTunes:
“Ignore” and “Download Upgrade”
“Keep Existing Link” and “Change Link”
“Ignore” and “Download Upgrade”
“Cancel” and “Locate File…”
“Edit Rules…” and “Save Playlist”. Also, the Smart Playlist editing dialog calls them “rules”, not “conditions”.
“Continue Import” and “Quit”
“Cancel” and “Quit”
Also of note is that only one of these dialogs uses a bold-faced summary sentence at the top and standard weight explanatory text below, another HIG recommendation.
This dialog button labeling convention has spread to other Mac applications:
“Cancel” and “Delete Group”
“Cancel” and “Erase Junk”
“Check Manually” and “Check Automatically”
This one I consider an oversight on my part because I was involved in the interaction design of Sparkle!
If I had to suggest improved labels, they would be “Cancel” and “Open All”, but I really don’t think this dialog should exist at all.
“Use Existing” and “Set as Default”
Now it’s leaking to the web!
“End Slideshow” and “Repeat”
Stop the madness!
