The dialog box shown below constantly has me clicking the wrong button—despite the fact that I designed it!
The way it works is, the user types some text into the line edit box, and program output is shown in the widget below it (grayed out in this example). The user may want to further processing of the inputs, and so if s/he checks the “Show Transductions” checkbox, the dialog box pictured below will expand and show that additional information below the “Show Transductions” checkbox. This is instantaneous.
The “Generate Debug” button opens a new window with debug output. This operation takes a long time to perform, but it is occasionally necessary.
(These functions are autonomous. Whether chooses the “Show Transductions” option has no effect on whether one would then click the “Generate Debug” button.)
Despite being both the designer and a frequent user of the program, I find myself constantly clicking “Generate Debug” when I mean to click “Show Transductions”. How should I design this dialog box differently to prevent that from happening?
One thought I have is to simply move the button—it can't help that it's at the lower-right corner, where action buttons usually go. I'd also be interested in the computer equivalent of the clear box covering the big red button in the power plant—to prevent accidental clicks—but I can't recall seeing that done in computers. (I would like to avoid clunky confirmation dialog boxes if possible.)
