[Lotus Notes Sucks: Example 64]
Fun with the To Do List
Problems
Lotus Notes features a "To Do" list. Here are some problems.
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Lotus Notes ignores you if you try to Reschedule, Cancel or Confirm when the To Do List is empty. But, the following results from clicking Delete when the To Do list is empty.
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Click Copy Into and the following appears:
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Lotus Notes lets you try to unmark a task (that is, click Unmark Completed, even if the To Do list is empty:
So, not only is the above message stupid, it's wrong—to designate a task that does not exist as "not completed" makes no sense.
Note that no dialog box appears when you click Mark Completed under that same circumstances.
Analysis
These messages should never appear to an end-user.
User Interface Guideline Violations
- Interrupting the user's work flow with a dialog box that should never have a reason to appear.
- Interface does not follow established conventions, such as disabling controls that apply to the current context.
- Not helping the user fix the problem.
- Error messages should be constructed so that they are grammatically correct and contain punctuation.
- Forcing the user to deal with stupidity.
Conclusion
Lotus Notes sucks.