How can I disable this Auto-brightness feature?

When should you disable a feature rather than hide it?

• Often times when your designing an application there are features that are only available depending on the context or state of the content that feature applies to. It seems there are two options: 1. You can hide the feature since showing it just provides the user with more to think about and thus more confusion. However, when the feature is available because the state of the content has changed, will they know where to find it again? 2. You can disable the feature (that is show the feature but gray it out so it can't be used). This helps the user make a mental queue for later. But does this just create more confusion? Thoughts?

• Answer:

  Disabling a feature is best applied when it shows the user that they can do something, just not right now. Two examples are menu options that aren't available, or a data entry field that they can't edit. This could confuse users if done in the wrong context. For example, if it's a form field that has information that is defaulted and they can't edit it, why use a disabled form field? Just display the information as text. I've always tried to focus on simplicity - if the user can do something, show them what they can do. If they can't, then don't present the option at all. I think the best example of disabling is if you are in a stepped process or "wizard" - show all the steps, but disable ones the user hasn't done yet, because often these processes are interdependent - you can't do step three before step one because there's information needed in step two.