http://www.usabilitypost.com/2008/08/30/usability-tip-use-verbs-as-labels-on-buttons/

I just stumbled upon this old post with comments closed, and wanted to comment and open up a discussion.

While the comments were in the majority in support of using verbs for labels on buttons, I strongly disagree.

The problem with using verbs is it makes the choices non-standard. Now each different dialogue box will have different choices, requiring the user to read the buttons to choose the right action.

With three standardized options: Yes, No, and Cancel, you already know the options and can choose as soon as you know the question. And half the time you already know the question.

The Mac dialogue box is superior for first-time users, perhaps, for it is more verbose in describing the situation. But for the veteran user, verbose is BAD.

Case in point, the new Windows 7 copy-replace dialogue box, which comes up when moving a file to a folder where that file name already exists. It describes in detail the problem, but it is too much, and requires me to read the options each time. Poor design.

Hey spencerdrager,

I think there might be a flaw in your logic.

You say that if you standardize the controls, people will know automatically what each one is. I agree. They won't know what the alert/question is though, so they'll have to read it. Now, you say they'll know what the question is half the time, but by that logic, won't they also know what the non-standard options are half the time, too? And action options are almost always shorter than the question. The key is to have short selections like: "Save" or "Print" to tell the user exactly what's going to happen. One key benefit of this is accuracy. You're much more certain that you've selected the right option when you clicked "Save" than a generic "Ok".

Note that I agree with you completely that verbose is bad, which is why these labels have to be very short. If you need to describe the action in more detail it probably shouldn't be a button label :)

Haven't used Windows 7 much at all, what does that dialog say?

Dmitry, I haven't seen Windows 7 one, because I use Vista at work. Here is screenshot I've found.

I use Windows 7 every day and I get this dialog once a week. Every time it takes me whole minute to read it and understand what to do. They are idiots, no doubts.

Back to reality, I think it should be verbose, short and consistent. I already know what my Mac is asking me mostly, even though it's verbose like "Don't send". Because dialogs are identical every time.

And step aside, the best way is only to have one button. So, if I need to confirm something, a dialog should have one confirmation button. Take a look at Chrome browser (I think), where dialog is actually a yellow ribbon on the top of the window. If I want to confirm it, I click the button, otherwise it would just stay there for some time without distracting me, and they fade out. I really like the idea.

That dialog is pretty intense :) For reference, here's an OS X one.

To be fair, the windows dialog is more useful as it allows you to copy and rename. Both seem confusing. If I'm copying multiple files does "Stop" stop all the copies, just this one, this one and any remaining? The windows one needs better labels, or better icons.
Perhaps:

Replace
Cancel
Rename

I don't think that this carries over to websites as users do not gain familiarity. With websites I think buttons that are short and descriptive are best.

Fyzbo: More useful for sure, but less simple as well. You have to play a balancing game in UI design between exposing more functionality and cutting back to keep things easy. I think this will be even more important on the web as we get richer and more powerful web apps that have all sorts of menus and windows -- but this mainly applies to applications rather than websites where you perform actions rather than browse pages.

Hello ... well said

Should we put <p> element outside to label?