Categories: Software Part 1: Making Software Easier Through Usability Testing Part 3: Talkback: Tell us about usability gaffes you've found Related Stories: 1999 Software Sneak Preview Next: Programs with confusing interface actions

Continued from Installing programs

Windows is a multitasking environment, but its multitasking behavior is often nothing short of rude. Let's say you have two programs running, and you're working in program A while program B runs in the background. If program B does something that requires your attention, there's a very good chance it will become the active program, effectively kicking you out of program A. This can be disastrous, especially if the newly active program offers a dialog box that requires a press of the Enter key to do something you don't want it to do. If you're touch-typing when this dialog takes over the foreground, you can perform actions without even realizing it.

The problem also occurs when you launch program B while working in program A. For example, let's say your ISP connection requires you to type in your user name and password in a separate log-on window. You launch Dial-Up Networking; then, while dialing your ISP, you launch your browser. Before the browser is finished loading, the log-on window appears and becomes the active window. If you start typing your account information, you can be almost certain that your browser (especially Microsoft Internet Explorer) will make itself active once or even twice as it loads, kicking you out of the log-on window. You have to keep switching back and forth, and that's simply unusable.

One solution is to force an application to remain in the background unless there's a pause in input activity for a certain time (even 2 seconds)--the program can take over at that point. As it stands, it's a frustrating experience.

Next: Programs with confusing interface actions

Published as Tutor in the 10/20/98 issue of PC Magazine.