[Lotus Notes Sucks: Example 48]
Send and File
Problem
Let us say you type a response to an email message. When you are ready to click Send, you accidently click Send and File. A dialog box appears. If you click the Cancel button to dismiss the dialog box, Lotus Notes closes the dialog box and destroys your response to that email message.
Analysis
To cancel a dialog box means "make this dialog box go away as though I never did whatever it was that made it appear in the first place." It means to go back a step. It means "I changed my mind." What it does not mean, however, is close the dialog box and delete the response to the email message that I just spent 15 minutes composing and typing.
In other words, in Lotus Notes, Cancel does not cancel.
User Interface Guideline Violations
- Interface does not follow established conventions.
- Interface destroys data without the user's consent.
- Interface does not do as the user expects.
- Forcing the user to deal with stupidity.
Update for Version 6
I received an email message claiming that this was fixed in Lotus Notes 6.0 in 2002. It appears so. But it amazes me that it wasn't fixed until version 6!
Conclusion
Lotus Notes sucks.