Joel on Software

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Jason Fried likes this dialog from OmniWeb 4.5 :

I have to disagree. I think it's a nice feature that shouldn't be advertising itself, it should just happen automatically and silently. It's a permanent redirect, that's what it means, and designers of web browsers know that a lot better than users, so why should users be inflicted with the need to make a complicated decision about something they don't understand as well as the software designers? Especially in the form of a modal dialog that interrupts whatever the user is trying to accomplish.

Unnecessary UIs like this that pop up to brag about a cool feature the developer implemented are a little bit obnoxious. Too many software developers just can't bring themselves to implement completely invisible features. They need to show off about what a great feature they just implemented, even at the cost of confusing people. Really great UI design disappears. It's a matter of taking away, not adding. Is this dialog any better than the Windows Help Find Setup Wizard?

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I’m Joel Spolsky, founder of Fog Creek Software, a New York company that proves that you can treat programmers well and still be highly profitable. Programmers get private offices, free lunch, and work 40 hours a week. Customers only pay for software if they’re delighted. We make FogBugz, an enlightened project management system designed to help great teams develop brilliant software, and Fog Creek Copilot, which makes remote desktop access easy.