# Software developers - Quit switching the OK and Cancel buttons! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 31, 2008, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/software-developers-quit-switching-the-ok-and-cancel-buttons/479395 "2008-12-31T20:29:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2009, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/software-developers-quit-switching-the-ok-and-cancel-buttons/479395/21 "2009-01-01T16:54:37Z")
> [@BJMoose](#): > > Sounds like the cell phone I have. Usually, the right-hand button is the equivalent of a computer’s escape key. > > One big exception: if you’re on the screen that displays the number the phone calls to access voice mail, pushing the right-hand button will _erase the last digit in the display_. There is no way to restore it. Hilarity does not ensue. > > So I spent a half hour or more on the phone talking with various people from whom English is, at best, a second language before somebody finally figured out what I meant by “I need the phone number for my voice mail.” :mad: Isn’t it just your phone number? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Waffle\_Decider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/77aa72/32.png) [@Waffle\_Decider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waffle_Decider)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2009, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/software-developers-quit-switching-the-ok-and-cancel-buttons/479395/22 "2009-01-01T17:53:28Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > FYI, you’re pitting the wrong people. Software Developers rarely make these kinds of decisions. It’s the marketing people who decide on how the screens look. Us code slingers look at stuff like that and say “um, people are gonna hate that” and then the marketing guys say “No! It’s a great feature! It makes sense! We like it that way.” > > Depending on how much experience the code slinger has, he/she may or may not protest again. The experienced people don’t bring it up again, because they’ve been through this so many times they know that it’s a waste of time. They just go off and code it the way the idiot marketing guys want. > > Then, six months later, when there’s enough complaints from customers because the damn buttons are in the wrong place, you get a very discreet email from noone in particular with a bug fix request asking you to switch them around. You switch them around and smile to yourself, then go on to the next stupid thing the marketing fucks want you to do. Amen. In addition to STFU, I also doubly make sure that it is documented in writing _everywhere_ that it is strictly done in accordance to marketing’s request. I make sure to place a comment pointing to the requirement document or bug # in the code that controls the stupid behaviour. I also make sure that the same information is contained in the change log when I check the changes into source control. Those wankers are going to blame everything on me when their stupidity backfires if I’m not careful. ---
**Author:** ![BJMoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5fc32e/32.png) [@BJMoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BJMoose)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/software-developers-quit-switching-the-ok-and-cancel-buttons/479395/23 "2009-01-02T01:43:10Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > Isn’t it just your phone number? 😕 Actually, no. It’s the number my phone calls to access the voice mail; some 1-816 number. At the time my wife had an identical phone and service, but the voice mail number was different. Further affiant saith not, cuz he’s so confused. . . . ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/software-developers-quit-switching-the-ok-and-cancel-buttons/479395/24 "2009-01-02T03:22:28Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > FYI, you’re pitting the wrong people. Software Developers rarely make these kinds of decisions. It’s the marketing people who decide on how the screens look. Us code slingers look at stuff like that and say “um, people are gonna hate that” and then the marketing guys say “No! It’s a great feature! It makes sense! We like it that way.” Ah, my sister! One time the marketing department told me to stop implementing a feature on a project in process. I protested that it was a useful feature, and in fact, I had already finished coding it, but they insisted I take it out anyway. I commented it out via C macros, so when they (inevitably) decided they wanted the feature back, it was just a matter of putting in the code something like “DEFINE MARKETING=idiots”. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/software-developers-quit-switching-the-ok-and-cancel-buttons/479395/25 "2009-01-02T03:48:10Z")
BTW, if you’re interested in issues around stuff like this, [this book](http://www.amazon.com/dp/1558605614?tag=debjmayass-20&camp=14573&creative=327641&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=1558605614&adid=1QSNDB1NATBJ59SSJ1QT&) is pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/software-developers-quit-switching-the-ok-and-cancel-buttons/479395/26 "2009-01-02T15:33:35Z")
> [@ChrisBooth12](#): > > A little bit of a mini-rant here but jeez quit switching the ok and cancel buttons on your menus! I know this is probably done so people won’t accidently do something they dont wanna do but you actually make them do it more often. Yes/Ok/Accept should ALWAYS be on the LEFT. NO/Stop/Cancel should always be on the right! Don’t try and switch it up. The same goes for cell phones! Quit mixing up the talk and hang up buttons! At work, we use an older version of WinZip in our development environment, as the contract requires supporting old software – the customer takes a few years to accept the latest version of commercial off-the-shelf software. For the version of WinZip in question, there is a nagging screen that appears each time the application is run, if the unlock key has not been entered. This dialog has the usual nagware text of “Please register this software, or we shall nag you a second time.” The buttons on the dialog are to continue using WinZip or to quit. I’m pretty sure that the buttons are placed randomly, because sometimes the Continue button is on the right and sometimes it’s on the left. > [@Tuckerfan](#): > > Its not limited to software installed on PCs, either. On some message boards the “Submit Reply” and “Preview Post” buttons are swapped, some boards even have a “Save” button for some inexplicable reason. Drives me batty. Certain other message boards I’m on have a Save Post button on the left – exactly where SDMB has Submit Reply. Many times I save a post instead of submitting it, go away, and wonder where my post went. ---
**Author:** ![Engineer\_Dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9fc29f/32.png) [@Engineer\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Engineer_Dude)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/software-developers-quit-switching-the-ok-and-cancel-buttons/479395/27 "2009-01-02T16:36:35Z")
I’ve seen the OK and cancel buttons switched on the “$XX.XX - Is this amount OK?” and on the “I agree to comply with the cardholers statement - sign here” screens when you swipe your credit card at a store, and have accidentally hit clear twice because of it. Drives me batshit. ---
**Author:** ![mabes10](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc348/32.png) [@mabes10](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mabes10)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/software-developers-quit-switching-the-ok-and-cancel-buttons/479395/28 "2009-01-02T23:15:10Z")
This is similiar so I won’t start a new thread. “You have used System Configuration Utility to make changes to Windows startup etc etc…” Then there is a check box - “Don’t show this message or run System Configuration Utility when Windows starts.” Damn it, I want to run it AND not see the box. Just start up the way I told you to! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/software-developers-quit-switching-the-ok-and-cancel-buttons/479395.md?page=1)