GUI Bloopers Checklist
Every blooper in the book is listed here and described briefly. Each blooper has a place to indicate whether your software has that blooper, and if so, where.
We've created a PDF of the checklist for you to download and print. Use it to document bloopers in your software.
Sample Checklist
Project:_________________________ Version:___________ Review Date:__________
GUI Control Bloopers (chapter 2)
- Confusing checkboxes and radiobuttons.
Occurs:___________________________________________ - Using checkboxes for non-ON/OFF settings.
Occurs:___________________________________________ - Using command buttons as toggles.
Occurs:___________________________________________ - Using tabs as radiobuttons.
Occurs:___________________________________________ - Too many tabs.
Occurs:___________________________________________ - Using input components for display-only data.
Occurs:___________________________________________ - Overusing text fields for structured data input.
Occurs:___________________________________________ - Dynamic menus
Occurs:___________________________________________ - Intolerant data fields
Occurs:___________________________________________ - Input fields and controls with no defaults
Occurs:___________________________________________ - Poor defaults
Occurs:___________________________________________ - Negative checkboxes
Occurs:___________________________________________
Navigation Bloopers (chapter 3)
- Window/page not identified
Occurs:___________________________________________ - Same title on different windows
Occurs:___________________________________________ - Window title doesn't match invoking command
Occurs:___________________________________________ - Distracting off-path links & buttons
Occurs:___________________________________________ - Self links
Occurs:___________________________________________ - Too many levels of dialog boxes
Occurs:___________________________________________ - Competing Search boxes
Occurs:___________________________________________ - Poor search results browsing
Occurs:___________________________________________ - Noisy search results
Occurs:___________________________________________
Textual Bloopers (chapter 4)
- Inconsistent terminology
Occurs:___________________________________________ - Unclear terminology
Occurs:___________________________________________ - Bad writing
Occurs:___________________________________________ - Too much text
Occurs:___________________________________________ - Speaking Geek
Occurs:___________________________________________ - Calling users user to their face
Occurs:___________________________________________ - Vague error messages
Occurs:___________________________________________ - Erroneous messages
Occurs:___________________________________________ - Text makes sense in isolation but misleading in GUI
Occurs:___________________________________________ - Misusing "..." on command labels
Occurs:___________________________________________
Graphic Design & Layout Bloopers (chapter 5)
- Easily-missed information
Occurs:___________________________________________ - Mixing dialog box control buttons with application buttons
Occurs:___________________________________________ - Misusing group boxes
Occurs:___________________________________________ - Radiobuttons spaced too far apart
Occurs:___________________________________________ - Labels too far from data fields
Occurs:___________________________________________ - Inconsistent label alignment
Occurs:___________________________________________ - Bad initial window location
Occurs:___________________________________________ - Tiny fonts
Occurs:___________________________________________
Interaction Bloopers (chapter 6)
- Exposing implementation to users
Occurs:___________________________________________ - Needless restrictions
Occurs:___________________________________________ - Confusable concepts
Occurs:___________________________________________ - Asking for unneeded data (including asking 2x)
Occurs:___________________________________________ - Asking users for "random" numbers
Occurs:___________________________________________ - Pointless choice (including false choice)
Occurs:___________________________________________ - Hard to remember ID
Occurs:___________________________________________ - Long instructions that go away too soon
Occurs:___________________________________________ - Unnecessary or poorly marked modes
Occurs:___________________________________________ - Auto rearrangement of display
Occurs:___________________________________________ - Dialog boxes that trap users
Occurs:___________________________________________ - Cancel doesn't cancel
Occurs:___________________________________________
Responsiveness Bloopers (chapter 7)
- Cursor doesnt keep up
Occurs:___________________________________________ - Buttons acknowledge clicks too late
Occurs:___________________________________________ - Menus, sliders, and scrollbars lag behind
Occurs:___________________________________________ - Moving and sizing operations dont keep up
Occurs:___________________________________________ - Application doesn’t indicate that it is busy
Occurs:___________________________________________ - Application is unresponsive during internal housekeeping
Occurs:___________________________________________ - Long operations dont display progress
Occurs:___________________________________________ - Long operations provide no cancel
Occurs:___________________________________________ - Application wastes idle time
Occurs:___________________________________________ - Application gives no feedback when it hangs
Occurs:___________________________________________ - Web site has huge images and animations
Occurs:___________________________________________ - Web site always reloads whole pages
Occurs:___________________________________________
Management Bloopers (chapter 8)
- Treating user interface as low priority
Occurs:___________________________________________ - Misunderstanding what user-interface professionals do
Occurs:___________________________________________ - Discounting the value of testing and iterative design
Occurs:___________________________________________ - Anarchic development
Occurs:___________________________________________ - No task-domain expertise on the design team
Occurs:___________________________________________ - Using poor tools and building blocks
Occurs:___________________________________________ - Giving programmers the fastest computers
Occurs:___________________________________________
Color Bloopers (Web appendix)
- Text hard to read on background
Occurs:___________________________________________ - Color-differences too subtle
Occurs:___________________________________________
