While working on the MTV project at Innovative Systems this summer, I kept running into the same frustrating modal.
My Review
Every day for two months, I’d try to exit a page, and this modal would pop up. I’d click 'Yes' instantly, thinking 'Yes, I want to leave,' only to get stuck. I’d have to slow down, read it properly, and click 'No'.
Thankfully, I wasn’t alone. A fellow intern felt the same way. During one mentoring session, a senior designer saw me stumble on that modal so many times he finally asked, "Have you thought about exploring how to change it?"
THE CONSTRAINTS
My immediate thought was, "Let's just add a 'Save and Exit' button and call it a day." I even wondered how veteran designers hadn't thought of it...
One conversation with a developer later:
- > This was a global modal used everywhere in the enterprise software.
- > Custom functional changes required significant dev time for dozens of scenarios.
- > As an intern, requesting a global architectural change was probably not going to happen.
CHALLENGE: fix this frustrating user experience just by changing the words?
MY PROCESS
Figuring out why it was so frustrating.
The modal broke a cardinal rule: it made you stop and think. The buttons answered a question rather than labeling an action.
Looking for best practices.
Analyzed patterns in Outlook and other enterprise tools. The standard was clear: Action-based labeling (e.g., "Delete", "Save").
Little bit of sketching.
I sketched options focusing on header clarity and button labels.
Validation
I knew a budget for a massive usability test was unlikely, so I did the next best thing: I put my top three designs into a survey and got over 15 responses.
THE SOLUTION
With that data in hand, I presented my findings during the UX-GUI meeting. After getting approval, I wrote a Jira ticket for the engineering team, outlining my problem, process, test results, and the recommended copy.
The day was saved.
TAKEAWAYS
Convention vs. Clarity
Balancing muscle memory with improvement is tough. But when the convention causes errors, clarity must win.
Micro-interactions Matter
UX isn't always big redesigns. Sometimes, removing a small stone from a user's shoe is the most valuable thing you can do.