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List:       kde-look
Subject:    Re: Dialog colour flashes
From:       Derek <fountai () hursley ! ibm ! com>
Date:       1999-09-20 8:10:18
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> > I'd thought of that, but didn't want to complicate things on my first
> > suggestion of the idea. Things like colour blindness (or monochrome
> > monitors) need to be worked around with configuration options. Changing
> > the colours (from the default Red, Yellow, Green) is one way, or adding
> > pixmaps, blinking or words to the flash is another. Sound is also an
> > option for the seriously visually impaired (play the Microsoft jingle
> > when something bad is about to happen? ;-)
> 
> I don't have a sound card. I hate things that blink at me. That leaves you
> with pixmaps. We have them already. See QMessageBox.
> 
> So this has already been addressed, and in a manner which does what you
> suggest, and also uses the only realistic option.
> 
> Sorry to rain on your parade, it's ok to question things that have been
> done a certain way for years, because certainly many are only the way they
> are due to bad design becoming a standard via force (e.g. some MS stuff),
> or due to lazy programming + design with no HCI in mind. In this case,
> however, I think the solution has already been found.

No it hasn't. The problem that several people have contended is that
users don't read dialogs; the users just hit the default button, or
guess what the text says. Then they end up doing damage to their data.
The problem is not one of communication as such, but making sure that
users identify which communications are important to them.

Pixmaps (I assume you mean a '!' sign, or the 'Stop' symbol) are too
familiar to get across the point "Hey, autopilot off! You need to read
this!".

I don't have a sound card either, so neither of us will be using that
option. I hate blinking to, so ditto. But people who can't see colours
properly - that was your original point - will use either or both of
those. They will be configurable, so you and I don't have to suffer
them.

If you still don't like my idea, I have no problem with that. How do you
suggest we make sure users read the important dialogs?

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