Friday, June 9, 2017

usability - What is the best method to undo an action?


Imagine for the sake of simplicity I have a web app to-do list, where each item is a line and has a check mark near it. When the user clicks the check mark, the task is then "done" and the line fades out of view. Unfortunately, sometimes users check the wrong task. I want to add undo functionality. I've thought of three methods, and I can't decide between them:




  1. Undo button.

  2. Instead of fading out, leave the item but strike through it and convert the check mark to "restore" button.

  3. When a user clicks the check mark pop a confirm dialog (modal or otherwise).


I've seen all three options used in various configuration (for example stack overflow uses 3 for the "flag" action, Trello uses a sort of undo button - it keeps a log of actions you can undo etc.). Is one of the options preferable? Is there a better option?



Answer



I like the google mail behaviour. It shows an undo popup:


gmail undo


Strike through (and a "Clear completed tasks" action) is a good (and common) solution for todo lists too.



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