This is an uncooperative example from Microsoft Paint. When Paint first opens, it chooses some arbitrary size for the blank canvas. If the user then pastes an image into Paint that happens to be larger than the blank canvas, it pops up this error message:

This Paint error message complains about a problem it can solve without bothering the user. Since the user never asked for the default canvas size in the first place, Paint should simply resize the canvas to accommodate the image. The message also uses jargon and the button labels do not make it easy to determine what will happen with each choice.

There are three cooperation violations here:

Solve Problems; Don't Complain or Pass the Buck: Paint complains that the image the user wants to paste is larger than the arbitrary size it chose for the blank canvas when it started up. There is no reason to bother the user with this problem, since the user never asked for the blank canvas to be any size at all. They just want to paste an image into the canvas, so there is no reason they would not want the canvas to "grow" to fit the image.

Explain in Plain Language - Avoid jargon: The error message talks about "the bitmap," which is its name for the canvas, or the currently blank image. This is not a user term.

Explain in Plain Language - Indicate the Consequences of Options: The error message has buttons with the labels, "Yes" and "No," which force the user to read the message carefully to know what each option will do (even if they've seen the message before). In this case, it's also not clear what "No" will do. Buttons on popup windows should be labelled in a way that lets the user quickly determine what will happen with each choice (often by using verbs for labels). For example, this message might have been labelled with "Enlarge," "Crop Image," and "Cancel."

An example of cooperative behavior comes from Internet Explorer 5.x. After a page loads in IE, the user can resize the window and IE reformats the information without going back to the server to reload the page. This is a big time saver. (Netscape 4.x wastes the user's time by going back to the server to get the same information it already has to reformat the page.) This is an example of generally being respectful of the user's time/effort.

The Toshiba SD-5109 DVD player has a nice cooperative feature. If you turn off the machine with the DVD tray still open, it automatically closes the DVD tray first and then turns off the machine. This is an example of the principle Look for Widgetless Features. Most commonly, when you want to turn off the DVD player, you also want to close the tray. If you forget to do so, you have to first turn the player back on again, then close the tray, and then turn the machine off again. This feature saves you the effort by anticipating the likely need and taking care of it with no extra "clicks." It doesn't ask "Do you want to close the tray first?" It just does it. Very nice.

This Toshiba DVD player automatically closes the DVD tray if you turn off the machine when it's open. This is a nice widgetless feature; it anticipates your need without requiring extra clicks.

Notice: Although you might be able to concoct a reason why someone might want to keep the tray open when the machine is off, that scenario will be very rare. It's far better to help most people most of the time, even if it inconveniences a few people every so often.

Here's an unusual example of cooperative behavior from Pacific Gas & Electric, a utility company. I was going to be away during the time when my PG&E bill would come, so before I left, I paid the bill in advance. I didn't know how much it would be, so I over-estimated to be safe, leaving me with a credit. It so happened that the credit was close to the amount of the following month's bill, so I wound up with a bill for just 90 cents. Rather than making me write a check for 90 cents and spend 34 cents on a stamp to mail it, PG&E printed on the bill, "This amount may be paid with your next bill." Perfect! Someone responsible for writing the billing software had thought about this case and offered exactly the right solution. It's a wonderful example of observing the principle Treat Clicks as Sacred. It saves customers from a lot of effort in an unexpected way that makes them feel like the company is aware of their situation. (Wouldn't it be nice if credit card companies did this and didn't charge you the fees associated with carrying a balance?)

The software that printed this PG&E bill recognized that it's not worth customer effort to write and send a check for 90 cents, so it prints on the bill, "This amount may be paid with your next bill." What a thoughtful feature.