Comments on: The broken link paradox http://www.iacons.net/writing/2007/03/04/the-broken-link-paradox/ Fri, 09 Apr 2010 01:26:45 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: Iacovos http://www.iacons.net/writing/2007/03/04/the-broken-link-paradox/comment-page-1/#comment-2075 Iacovos Sat, 31 Mar 2007 09:52:34 +0000 http://www.iacons.net/writing/2007/03/04/the-broken-link-paradox/#comment-2075 <p>Thanks for your reply George. I found your suggestion so easy and straightforward that I am wondering how I could not come up with it in the first place. Well, I guess this is the point where experience makes the difference, huh? :)</p> <p>P.S: I am sorry it took me so long to reply to your comment -- I have been quite busy the last few weeks trying to sort out both work and studies.</p> Thanks for your reply George. I found your suggestion so easy and straightforward that I am wondering how I could not come up with it in the first place. Well, I guess this is the point where experience makes the difference, huh? :)

P.S: I am sorry it took me so long to reply to your comment — I have been quite busy the last few weeks trying to sort out both work and studies.

]]> By: George http://www.iacons.net/writing/2007/03/04/the-broken-link-paradox/comment-page-1/#comment-1300 George Fri, 09 Mar 2007 13:16:09 +0000 http://www.iacons.net/writing/2007/03/04/the-broken-link-paradox/#comment-1300 <p>It's been my experience that this happens with more than broken links. In fact, it's something that happens with all GUI control elements.</p> <p>Lets say you have a flash element with a button whose actions you haven't implemented yet, so the button is there but clicking it does absolutely nothing. Clients and even colleagues will inevitably come back to you and report that the button doesn't work. If you make it pop-up an alert which reads something like 'This is still under construction', people will come back and report that the button is popping-up a message instead of working and it needs to be implemented.</p> <p>What I'm getting at, is that anything you present to clients, or even higher levels of management withing the development environment, should be skinned down to whatever actually works. Put place holders where stuff isn't ready yet, but don't put interface controls unless they are usable. Interface controls are irresistible, and if they don't behave properly they cause frustration. Links, buttons, selectors, scroll bars, get them out until they're done.</p> It’s been my experience that this happens with more than broken links. In fact, it’s something that happens with all GUI control elements.

Lets say you have a flash element with a button whose actions you haven’t implemented yet, so the button is there but clicking it does absolutely nothing. Clients and even colleagues will inevitably come back to you and report that the button doesn’t work. If you make it pop-up an alert which reads something like ‘This is still under construction’, people will come back and report that the button is popping-up a message instead of working and it needs to be implemented.

What I’m getting at, is that anything you present to clients, or even higher levels of management withing the development environment, should be skinned down to whatever actually works. Put place holders where stuff isn’t ready yet, but don’t put interface controls unless they are usable. Interface controls are irresistible, and if they don’t behave properly they cause frustration. Links, buttons, selectors, scroll bars, get them out until they’re done.

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