Use an Ellipsis to Indicate That There’s a Further Step

If your user sees a “Remove” button, how do they know if pressing it will:

• Remove the thing they’re looking at?
• Ask which thing needs to be removed?
• Ask them if they really want to remove the thing?
• Instantly remove all their stuff?

Label the button “Remove…” and the user will have a good idea that there’s another step before all their stuff is removed. Most users will infer from this that the button is the first part of a multi-part process and there will be a second step to confirm or cancel the action. If a control requires an extra step to perform its action, include an ellipsis (...) in the control:

Figure 12.1: New Tab just opens a new tab, while Email Link… will ask for more information in the next step

These little dots are a great example of invisible design: most users will never have even noticed them...