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If the user has two options and it takes only a dozen words to clarify the
result of both choices, give them what they need.
Sometimes, clicking Cancel or its equivalent in a multi-screen process takes
you back to the previous screen. At other times, clicking Cancel or its
equivalent wipes out all previous data entry for the process being
cancelled. In still other cases, Cancel or its equivalent might take you
back to a specific mid-point somewhere along the way, canceling the current
subprocess but not the entire process.
If you were the user, wouldn't you want the instructions to be specific and
clear?
One of the purposes of an end-point instruction like that is to allow you to
specify what screen displays after they click the button. In my experience,
new users and users going through a sometimes traumatic change to a new
system from their comfortable old software really appreciate simple
confirmations and clues that things are going along as they should.
It is dangerous to make too many assumptions about what a user knows about
your software - especially a user who is having to read the manual
step-by-step. It is also dangerous to assume that every developer uses the
Save/Cancel combination the same way.
-Ed Gregory
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