37signals’ biggest flaw
I met Paul Campbell for a coffee on Monday. I ordered an Americano, he ordered a Latte. But the “barista” asked Paul if he’d have a Cappuccino instead because he already had the foam ready! In the same way, web developers often make design choices that make their lives easier and this is the source, I believe, of 37signals‘ biggest flaw.
Note: There is no undo
In general, consumer software is designed to facilitate the user’s life, to obey their every command and to be their most loyal servant. And so, when I deliver my wish to my serving software, I expect it to be carried out immediately and completely.
Bad software does not obey as it should and causes frustration. When I say “delete this item now”, bad software insults me to the highest degree and asks “are you sure you want to delete this item”? Bad software second-guesses its master.
Because of the great volume of bad software out there, 37signals’ apps could never be labelled so. I use, and enjoy paying for, three of their products. But unfortunately, they are all riddled with confirm dialogue boxes. This is their biggest flaw.
These dialogue boxes are bad not only because they insult their master, but because they interrupt my workflow and are presented in a way that makes me hit “OK” so instinctively that I never get a chance to consider what they’re asking me.
But there should be
I believe in 37signals’ mantra: Half, Not Half-Assed. But undo is not one of these non-essential features that can be “pared” away. There should be an undo and no (or very few) confirm dialogue boxes in sight. And I’d be surprised if 37signals disagreed with this. I think the only reason we still suffer these annoyances in Highrise, Basecamp and Backpack is that undo is difficult to implement; and that’s not a very good excuse, is it?
Further reading
- Never Use a Warning When you Mean Undo at A List Apart.
- Better Web apps: add an Undo button.
- Having an UNDO when deleting stuff; Backpack customers crying out for undo.
- Undo Made Easy with Ajax.