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UI Follies, Volume III

Ever wonder how you could possibly find something in that complex, ten-tabbed options dialog? How about a search function on the options dialog, as featured in Quest's Toad for SQL Server:

Toad for SQL Server options dialog

Aside from the fact that it's completely insane to build an options dialog so complicated that it needs a search function.. it's not a bad feature.

In a previous life, I used the Oracle version of this product quite a bit. How do you know your options dialog is too complicated? When it takes an entire minute-- a full 60 seconds-- for the system to respond after clicking on the Tools, Options menu item.

Written by Jeff Atwood

Indoor enthusiast. Co-founder of Stack Overflow and Discourse. Disclaimer: I have no idea what I'm talking about. Find me here: https://infosec.exchange/@codinghorror