I am taking over the code of another person. This person is allowing double clicks to occur on RadGrids (Telerik Control).. I personally hate the idea of allowing double clicks in a web application. I tihnk it is not natural.
Is there any good argument against double clicks in web apps? Or am I wrong and double clicks in web apps are good for some reason?
Really a lot of this comes down to personal preference.
But the most "logical" argument that I can give is that double clicking to access features, etc, is not a "natural" experience for users in a web application. Sure, in windows it is, but people have been somewhat conditioned that they don't navigate/act upon a web application in that manner.
I don't think there is a good argument for or against. I agree that to me, it's not natural. At the same time, I know plenty of people (my parents included) that consistently try to double click buttons on web sites. It's a natural reflex to those who may be new to the web or just don't use the web as often as they do desktop applications.
In the end, it's up to you, and the functionality of your site will not be really affected one way or the other.
You are right, double-clicking in web apps is not intuitive to the user from a UI standpoint. There are very few online applications that allow the user to do this so the mainstream perception is that it isn't possible. Adding functionality is great, but only if the user knows how to use it properly.
User preference.
A 'Good' argument against: make a consistent interface.
Anchors (the traditional web navigation) don't need a double-click, therefore, it is not an intuitive action. Adding that requirement may confuse users.
An 'OK' argument for: emulate what users are accustomed to. Many users double-click EVERYTHING because windows has accustomed them to this. Note: this can cause problems in button events.
My take is that if you need various functionality on an item (and since you're using Telerik), use the ContextMenu (something else that Windows users are accustomed to) and put them there.
Double clicking in web apps is like drag and drop: everyone has already learned that you can't do that. Then, newer browsers arrived, and added this and more.
So it's up to you: you either allow double clicking, and drag and drop, or you don't. But if you do, you must realize and take into account that 1. you will need to teach those non-standard things to the users with good clues on the interface (more work) and 2. there will always be a portion of your users who will never realize that they can do that, so they may be missing features.
Double-clicking is fine as long as it's just a shortcut for something that can be done without double-clicking.
For example, if single-clicking is selection and there's a number of things you can do with the selected entry (say "view", "delete", "move", etc) and double-click does the most common one (say "view"), then that's great.
The user should never be required to double-click in order to do something.