Notifications

A notification message box can be eliminated if the information it provides isn't significant or could be replaced with some type of visual feedback. You could make the argument that most notifications are unnecessary. After all, if the user executes a command, it usually goes without saying that the command has executed successfully unless some form of error message is displayed. Notification message boxes should be used only when the successful completion of a command isn't obvious and there is no alternative way to provide feedback.

Let's look at some examples. The typical Find command that finds text in a document needs to inform the user when it has reached the end of a document without finding any more occurrences of the specified text. If the command loops back to the beginning of a document without informing the user, there is a risk that the user will make several passes through the document without realizing that he has reached the end. The Find command in Visual C++ solves this problem by displaying the text Passed the end of the file on a blue background on the status bar. While this takes a little getting used to at first, it is far more convenient than a message box. Interestingly, Microsoft Word displays a message box that states Word has finished searching the document. I assume the status bar approach isn't used in Word because its target audience is much broader than the Visual C++ audience is.

TIP

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Consider using the status bar to eliminate notification message boxes.

The Find utility in Microsoft Windows indicates its status by enabling and disabling buttons and displaying an animated icon. When the Find utility is searching for something, the animation clearly shows that it is searching, the Find Now button is disabled, and the Stop button is enabled. When the search is finished, the animation stops, the state of the buttons is reversed, and the number of files found is displayed on the status bar. This visual feedback keeps the user fully informed without using message boxes at all.

TIP

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Consider using control enabling and animation to eliminate notification message boxes.