Questions tagged [errors]
Handling and explaining errors gracefully so as to have the least negative impact on a user's experience and workflow.
119
questions
85
votes
8
answers
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Best practices to design a 404 error page
What are the best practices in designing a 404 error page?
I read so many blogs and articles regarding this. Some says about using fancy images , when some days about sticking to the basics.
Are there ...
- 2,094
71
votes
8
answers
82k
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How to tell a user their login credentials are incorrect?
When a user has entered incorrect details into a login form, is it better to tell them:
The username or password you have entered is invalid.
or
The username you have entered is invalid (for ...
- 5,898
58
votes
4
answers
100k
views
How to create a useful 500 internal server error page
I'm trying to create a useful HTTP Error 500 Internal server error page and the recommendations I have found and the live examples I have stumpled upon use a very simple layout. They basically include:...
- 7,304
47
votes
6
answers
7k
views
How can I highlight errors when bright red is the main color of the brand?
I'm working on a mobile website for a client whose main brand color is red. The website header and headings are all red. CTA buttons are red too. How can I effectively separate errors (mostly in form ...
- 1,081
41
votes
3
answers
2k
views
Humor on the deathbed
Here is a rather accurate description of an extremely rare situation, displayed by a program right before seppuku:
cannot handle the fatal error due to a fatal error in the fatal error
handler!
...
- 587
31
votes
9
answers
13k
views
Should disabled buttons give feedback when clicked?
I was wondering if you could help me with a UX issue I am facing with “disabled buttons in Mobile”
We have a few different input fields as part of a mobile onboarding process. These forms have quite ...
26
votes
5
answers
3k
views
Are HTTP error codes user-friendly?
Why do we still have these HTTP error codes?
For me it seems like they are completely useless for the user (not for all but most of them). It says nothing helpful (look at the screenshot above, it ...
- 5,395
23
votes
6
answers
6k
views
Should we be optimistic or pessimistic with UI updates on AJAX requests?
We are discussing in our team how best to handle UI updates after a user does something to cause an AJAX request to the server.
Here are options we are considering:
Instantly update the UI and add/...
- 331
21
votes
10
answers
2k
views
Necessity of writing the number "404" on a 404 page?
I've been working on a 404 page recently and have been confronted with the issue of whether we need to explicitly write the numbers '404' on the 404 page.
My team's opinion on this issue is split. I ...
- 341
20
votes
4
answers
1k
views
Should users be directed to a 404 page or a landing page?
We have two pages. One is a landing page, given by the route /region. The other is a detail page for a particular region, given by the route /region/summary/{id}. The landing page is the normal way by ...
- 303
19
votes
7
answers
4k
views
Is it worth having custom 404 pages for different features of a web app?
We've seen a lot of beautiful custom error pages for server errors such as 404 and 503, but it seems like each site or app has just has one for whatever page you cannot reach.
Is it in anyway ...
- 195
14
votes
3
answers
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What's the Android recommendation for error handling
I'm looking through the Android UX design docs, and I'm not finding an article for best practices around error handling.
The type of errors I'm concerned with are limited functionality due to no ...
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13
votes
8
answers
4k
views
Why are error codes on websites shown as "404 Not Found" [duplicate]
Most error pages on websites display http status codes in messages.
Eg - "404 Not Found"
Is that status code really helpful for a user?
A previous question asked Are HTTP error codes user-friendly?. ...
- 329
13
votes
2
answers
15k
views
Is there a standard for the frequencies and or duration used for beeps?
Is there a standard for the frequencies and or duration used for error or alert beeps?
When I hear a ding or bing sound, I sometimes find that the frequency of the tone is too high or low (in my ...
- 1,005
12
votes
2
answers
16k
views
Form validation and disabled buttons [duplicate]
Allowing a user to submit and find errors is likely optimal compared to the cognitive load of searching a form to see why the button's disabled. However, this could be avoided by providing real-time ...
- 435
11
votes
5
answers
4k
views
How do I manage form validation for either/or fields
I have a form in which there the user is required to enter either a postal code OR select a city in order to do a search. If they fail to enter either and submit the form, currently the form ...
11
votes
6
answers
6k
views
Should I use error message or warning message for optional field validations?
I have two types of validation pop-ups (toasts). One is used to display error messages in red and another one is for warning messages in yellow.
I have an (optional) image upload field in my form ...
- 211
10
votes
3
answers
2k
views
Is it a good idea to redirect expected page name misspellings/typos for critical web pages?
For example, would redirecting www.example.com/loogin to www.example.com/login be fine?
Would it be better to automatically redirect users to the correct page or display a page stating that the user ...
- 420
10
votes
2
answers
686
views
Choosing appropriate words for error levels
I develop an open-source, system monitoring tool, ServiceMon, and I'd really appreciate some help choosing the right words to use for a feature.
The state of the system that is being monitored is ...
- 413
10
votes
1
answer
4k
views
"An unexpected error occured"
I know this is more language problem, but in many applications there is a text "unexpected error occurred".
How do you get the sense (in context of UX) of this information? It makes me feel that the ...
- 471
9
votes
7
answers
3k
views
How to indicate a form-field error?
I have two candidates for indicating that a form field is in an error state.
Option 1
Option 2
Should the error icon be in the field, or next to the label? Or something else? Or does it not matter?
...
- 1,295
9
votes
3
answers
3k
views
Messaging a user success and error messages at the same time
There's a screen in our app where the user performs a batch action to list some products on their online store. In the UI, they select the products from a list and click a 'list' button.
During this ...
- 241
8
votes
3
answers
385
views
Which principle is violated if only one error message is shown at a time?
Our application is showing one error message at a time only, instead of listing all errors at once. The user spends much time clicking the OK button, fixing one item and then repeat.
Highlighting all ...
- 1,115
7
votes
2
answers
2k
views
How do I handle wrong input in a multiple input field?
The user has to input a 'serial' that can be verified in a database. The user can enter 1 to n 'serials'. Serials can be good or bad.
For those following case, I do:
Case 1: Do the process on good ...
- 171
7
votes
2
answers
6k
views
What's reasonable time lag before displaying a timeout message?
We're developing an online application and wondered what is the average/expected/reasonable about of time to make the user wait after form submission before we say "Hey sorry, we think there's a ...
- 71
6
votes
3
answers
245
views
How do I inform the user a component has stopped working?
This is my design challenge:
The idea is to have a separate component integrated into a website, displaying data retrieved from another system.
When a problem occurs with this other system, we are ...
- 807
6
votes
7
answers
9k
views
How to tell users that s/he might be adding a duplicate record
I have a form where users can add new contact records. Multiple users all use the same form, so it's quite possible that user ABC might try to add the same contact record that user DEF has already ...
6
votes
3
answers
208
views
If users encounter an error in an on-line/web process, typically what proportion actually complain?
Does anyone have any statistics or considered estimation on the proportion of users that contact a web site to inform/complain that an on-line process that they attempted failed?
Further, does it ...
- 175
6
votes
2
answers
5k
views
Whats the best way to show an error in a specific field in table? Example: Errors on a single row where some of the column is a form field
Example: Errors on a single row where some of the column is a form field.
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votes
3
answers
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views
How to manage usability with multiple http error messages?
I am writing an Angular 1.5.3 app. On my main 'home' page controller I call 2 different endpoints with $http. The two endpoints are not related to each other and have separate data etc. One problem I ...
- 163
5
votes
1
answer
4k
views
Design pattern for handling network connection errors
In case you didn't know, people are increasingly using smartphones. One problem that comes with smartphones is a shaky and unreliable internet connection. For "static" websites that primarily serving ...
- 7,304
5
votes
1
answer
13k
views
Toast message or dialog message for displaying internet connection error message on application
We are designing a new android application.
The app is in its initial stage of architectural design and UI definition.
One of the main question is how to display internet connection error message, On ...
- 633
4
votes
3
answers
4k
views
What is the best the message "Server is not Running" or "Please start the server" and why?
I need to show theis error message when local server is not running. I need to know which message is delivering the right information.
- 614
4
votes
4
answers
3k
views
Error handling - what to do with large error list?
We are rewriting our desktop application and we are thinking of improving the error handling and error notifications. Currently, it is only based on modal dialogs. But some of the messages contain ...
- 55
4
votes
2
answers
308
views
Should 404 page use different layout from the rest of the site?
An error page can either use the same template as the rest of the site or a different one.
With Error 500 (Server Error), it is preferred for the error page to be as simple as possible to lower the ...
- 141
4
votes
1
answer
548
views
What are the most common mistakes people make when entering their e-mails in a form?
I want to write some quite specific error messages for an e-mail form field in order for people to find out what they did wrong more quickly.
– What are the most common mistakes people make when ...
- 7,304
4
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Duration of alert messages/notifications
From my understanding, alert messages/notifications should not just disappear after a certain amount of time for accessibility reasons - some people may require more time to read them so they should ...
- 1,394
4
votes
1
answer
343
views
What should a good error email look like?
Upon errors in my applications, I'm sending out error emails.
Both, developers and administrators get them.
The huge amount of "information" inside the emails tend to make them helpful for ...
- 2,979
4
votes
2
answers
530
views
Generic or dedicated error pages
The most common errorpage is the 404 error. Right now we are working on a website for a big client with several country websites.
My idea for http errors is:
One generic page which appologies for ...
- 472
4
votes
5
answers
2k
views
When should I validate that the password in a confirmation field matches the first password entered?
If a user creation page has a field where you are asked to re-enter your password, when should the page validate that the second password matches the first?
I do not have control over whether or not ...
- 253
4
votes
2
answers
132
views
Do short response times increase errors for complex tasks?
I am currently dealing with a summary of "Designing the User Interface:
Strategies for Effective Human-Computer Interaction (5th edition)" by Ben Shneiderman & Catherine Plaisant.
In ...
- 141
3
votes
2
answers
202
views
What should an error state for a number value be?
Let's say that there are different numbers presented to the user - money values ($1.50), percentage values (+25.53%), development values (+$3.50), etc. In case there is an error in retrieving one of ...
- 61
3
votes
3
answers
369
views
Am I providing too little feedback?
Consider this form in its blank state.
Here's an example of an invalid entry. I pre-filled two fields because I belief that, edge cases aside, most users would attempt to use the form appropriately.
...
- 233
3
votes
4
answers
319
views
How should I handle errors due to not being logged in?
I have a website that allows to check in/out items. When a user clicks "Check Out" without being logged in, they are redirected to a page that explains that they were not logged in.
Is there a better ...
- 1,132
3
votes
4
answers
290
views
Positive connotation Icon for number of errors
We have a game where we need to count number of errors as performance criteria. We are looking for a way to positively note the scores. One idea was to make an association to golfing by naming it ...
- 31
3
votes
2
answers
104
views
What is the best way to handle missing response (transaction result unknown)
We're arranging UI screens for mobile banks.
To perform "transactions", the system needs to communicate with the core bank mainframe.
Sometimes, we don't receive the response after sending a ...
- 31
3
votes
5
answers
3k
views
What's the best way to show multiple errors associated with a table row?
After loading some files I get a table that looks like the following:
The picture above shows that 49 rows were processed, of which 33 are okay, 8 have warnings and 8 have errors. Now, each rows with ...
- 481
3
votes
1
answer
130
views
Why does front page of Google.com give no feedback when trying to search when nothing's entered?
Carry out the following experiment:
Go to google.com,
Leave the "search" field empty,
Click "Google search"
I was having a discussion with my friend about how applications should ...
- 345
3
votes
2
answers
2k
views
How to display multiple complex validation errors and warnings
To help our users in data entry, we provide them with
Warnings (User's data MAY BE correct so we allow them to save)
Errors (User's data IS NOT correct; cannot be saved without fixing first.)
How ...
3
votes
1
answer
264
views
What are the best practices for saving? Incompatible errors vs user-input error?
I've been trying to set a standard for my team. Right now, I have it as when there is a system error there would be a toast
And when there is a user error, the field becomes red and there is an error ...
- 61