Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uwm.edu!uwvax!asiago.cs.wisc.edu!bart From: bart@asiago.cs.wisc.edu (Bart Miller) Newsgroups: comp.editors Subject: User interface question -- looking for a reference Message-ID: <10856@spool.cs.wisc.edu> Date: 18 Jul 90 01:41:16 GMT Sender: news@spool.cs.wisc.edu Organization: U of Wisconsin CS Dept Lines: 15 I'm looking for help on finding a reference on what (I think) is a well-known user-interface design principle. I'm posting this message to a couple of groups because I'm not sure where to look. The issue is about user-interfaces that ask "are you sure?" before they execute a command. Especially if an interface or tool ALWAYS asks "are you sure?" on every command. On these type of interfaces, users tend to type "yes" without thinking -- even when they intended to say "no". My question: is there a reference (conf paper, journal article, or book) that talks about this? If you know of such a reference, please let me know (e-mail would be best). Thanks! --bart miller uw-madison cs dept bart@cs.wisc.edu