Ask the user or try not to bother him?

Question

I have an application that might receive a net request for data from another computer. The data can be grouped into several categories so that filtering can be made upon it.

In this situation two things can happen:

1. I give the user the ability to filter the information he wants to send (thus reducing bandwidth and providing the user with a powerful feature)
2. Try not to bother the user with this so that the use of the application remains as simple as possible and decide beforehand what information will be send.

Basically is the old debate between Google UI and "your app UI". The second option is too simple but it limits the user ability to decide exactly the data he wants to send, the second introduce a complexity to the user that might be unneeded.

What alternative do you thing is better?

Answer 1

I think the best is if you can to do the default thing without asking the user, but provide an options menu or similar somewhere so that an interested user can go in and optimize if she wishes. If it makes sense in your situation, it might be an idea to notify the user in a subtle way that there are options that can be configured when they start the operation, without requiring them to take any action.

Answer 2

Without a lot more detail it is hard to say. It depends on the sort of users you will be getting and how skillful they are.

You might be able to do some sort of compromise, where it is simple by default, but has an advanced button for advanced users.

Answer 3

It always depends on the situations. You can assume the default inputs wherever possible and ask the user for more. But in my opinion simplicity is the best. If you need lot on user interventions, you can try wizard kind-of-interfaces.

Answer 4

It depends on how much time you want to put into polishing.

I would say if its a feature you are thinking of adding, its probably a good feature. However, if you have concerns of overwhelming the novice user, have a basic feature and simply add a link like "advanced" next to it.