Post #2571011

2026-05-10 12:26 UTC

@the_wub@mastodon.social @tokyo_0@mas.to If closing a window is a destructive action, it should always be accompanied with a confirmation query. If it's a nondestructive action, then it should be made trivial to reopen the window in the state it left at. Minimizing a window is a pretty unintuitive action (even after > 30 years using UI systems my mom never properly picked up on it, and still struggles to this day with what it means); outright closing and later recreating is the more intuitive user protocol. 1/

Replies (2)

@the_wub@mastodon.social 2026-05-10 12:30

@datenwolf@chaos.social @tokyo_0@mas.to 1/2 You can still have the close button on the other side. In the days of 90MHz Pentiums I remember the long wait for a browser or other program to open. Click to minimise before you have done anything, close the window by accident and you would often have to wait a while to get the program back up and running. Not much fun when working on a high pressure help desk with a queue of dissatisfied customers on the phone and you have just closed the program you needed.

Open ##2571012
@datenwolf@chaos.social 2026-05-10 12:34

@the_wub@mastodon.social @tokyo_0@mas.to When it comes to UI design "suprising" behavior – which includes suprises as "oh, you can do THAT?" – should be avoided. 1. it creates a rarely trodden usage path, which means user interaction bugs may remain undiscovered for a long time. 2. it creates support pressure, if you have to explain umpenth times to users how to reach certain information. 2/

Open ##2571016