Ask Eric: Questions & Answers

August 31, 2010 – submitted by Rehab Genena of Cairo, Egypt

Question: I have a confirmation message box, asking the user to confirm he wants to exit without saving, or wants to delete an item... etc.

My question is about the order of the buttons in the box. Shall I put the "Yes" button first, or the "No" button first.

I am afraid that putting the "Yes" button first will make the user click it and perform a dangerous action without thinking. On the other side, I am afraid that putting the "No" might confuse users, as this is not what they are used to in different websites and applications.

My users are teachers from all over the world, with different web experience.

Eric's response: Interesting, the less experience they have the less important this decision will be. It is the expert users who have learned to automatically click YES on a delete confirmation (etc). That automatic reaction can be broken up by switching the action button sequence (as long as they are not using (Ctrl/Y or such).

So you can break up the habit by being unconventional, or even switching. But you will create a bit of confusion or frustration.

A BETTER approach is to avoid popping up 'Are you sure?' items for routine activities. Because this is the way that we train users to respond without thinking.