New answers tagged error-message
0
I think it's also important to speak with an somewhat apologetic tone (not over-the-top) where possible.
Not like an actual apology, but more an expression of regret. A simple 'Sorry for the inconvenience...' or 'Sorry this isn't working...' can help the user feel that it's not their own fault (even if it is).
Edit:
@norabora - Any research to back ...
0
Based on information from Donald Norman's book The Design of Everyday Things, which I highly recommend, it is important to give people feedback on what they should do when an error occurs. A useful generic error message is: Sorry an error occurred. Please click here. In this message, click here is a link to the home page where the user can restart.
1
To the other excellent answers, I just want to add that I think the word "unknown" should be avoided in user-facing error messages, because it makes it sound like nobody has any idea what went wrong. If the user isn't responsible for fixing the problem, then there's no need to bore them with the details, but the message should imply that the people who are ...
21
A good error message should:
Let you know what the problem is.
Make you feel like there is something that you can do about it.
Speak like a human, and be a consistent extension of the personality of the rest of the application.
For generic error messages, you can't do much about the first point, but you can do something about the other two.
Do something ...
2
The best error message is always about context, probably the best message would be:
Relevant for the user
Honest (you can make jokes but is has to be obvious)
Not embarrassing for the user
Therefore blaming the systems not the user
Telling her what to do next (or making it obvious)
Self explanatory on how to do so
4
Depending on the tone of the application you can use something like:
"Oops! Something went wrong." - Send error report to help us improve your experience
"The application has encountered an unknown error." - Send error report for diagnosis.
Google chrome uses a generic error: " Google Chrome quit unexpectedly." - Ignore, Report or Reopen.
You can follow ...
0
In the UI, maintain an additional column for the items to display Delete Status. On delete, deleted records can be marked as "Successfully Deleted" and further selection for deletion not allowed. For failed records, this column should hold the reason for Failure. Color codification also can be applied to improve visibility.
2
So if I understood you correctly User by default may delete any item but sometimes can't do so because of system failures etc.
Here are some tips how to deal with the situations like that:
If all the items were deleted successfully just remove them from the UI; no further notifications and messages are required - the fact that user can no longer see the ...
0
One approach might be: If the user does not have authorization to delete some element, do not provide any way to select it for deletion. The exact way to represent this might depend upon the specific application.
2
One solution to overcome a hindrance is to make the hindrance disappear. If the user cannot perform an action then there is no need of a partial success message of any kind because there will be no failure.
Are you familiar with the Poka-Yoke technique ? It is has been formalized for industrial purpose but I think it can be helpful in your case.
...
1
Combining red error text with a shake animation should be sufficient, this can be done easily with animate.css. They have already implemented shake with css3 transitions. If you make it shake whenever password is wrong, the user should understand. You could also make the error text slide in (still using animate.css), giving another visual clue that the last ...
0
Stack Overflow shows their error messages in some good ways (imagine it may be stack exchange in general).
When you don't meet requirements for number of characters changed when editing (or something similar), they put the message in a box below the input field. Then if you still don't meet the requirement on the next submit attempt, it moves it to the side ...
5
I would not go with a different color since it implies it is not the previous error (wrong password) but a new error this time around.
A couple approaches you can take:
Animate the password input field to shake/vibrate when the wrong password is entered (eg: mac login window)
Remove the password if it is incorrect and highlight the field and show the ...
8
Error messages shouldn't go away on their own unless
Errors were resolved by User's Input
User wanted those error messages to be hidden by clicking a X which an error message may have.
If error message is displayed and user makes the same mistake which produces the same error message for the second time, the error message can blink or have a brief color ...
-4
it's literally up to you. Most of the time developers actually leave it as is.
-2
You should clear both password and username, or neither, your choice.
Clearing one but not the other can get a hacker/cracker ideas about where he went wrong (he may well be guessing the username as well).
For the same reason you should never state which of the two is invalid when authentication fails. Instead of "invalid password" or "unknown user" give as ...
1
Looking at this question from another angle may be helpful. A saved failed password isn't very useful. At least if you trust the most up voted answer to my question: Why do users erase all the password when they hit one wrong key instead of just the last wrong character?
The first one you mention yourself, it's an automated process. It's easier to ...
0
One of the most effective means to display an error alert is:
Place the error note next to the element that the user can interact with to perform the correction
Scroll the page to focus on the element and the error note
provide a short animation (movement of the error note box) to draw the user's attention when the page is already centered on the problem ...
1
It may also be a strange application of the fundamental attribution error.
The essence of the FAE is that people assume that they are not responsible for their failures.
People may simply assume that they're not responsible for the error - they blame the problem on the environment. In this case, they think that the error message is actually an error - ...
22
In general, using only color to indicate information is bad for accessibility reasons. Red/green colorblindness is the most common and occurs in 8% of males. Using an icon, like an X or warning sign, is the best way to go.
If you must differentiate color for business reasons (i.e. people at the top think it should be a different color), then pick one that ...
0
@AndroidHustle stated it perfectly in his answer. Context is the key in everything, if a user is filling out a form and they try to submit it and you give them errors telling them exactly what is wrong then they will have no problem understanding that the red lines that just appeared next to the form are validation messages.
Try not to break the mold by ...
38
Just because your brand color is red doesn't make the use of red for errors obsolete, it's just a matter of extent.
Take the Viaplay signup form for example:
Viaplay has red as their main accent color, which is used throughout the website for actions buttons, icons, header, graphic elements etc.. however, in the form they do tone down the use. They ...
14
Instead of using colors, draw visual emphasis through other means, such as using danger icons, font weight, and/or jagged outlines.
Here's a an example, excessively using all three of these cues:
EDIT: The comments below suggest that I didn't make it clear enough in my original post that using all three of these cues together would be excessive. (I'd ...
2
It would depend on what other colour you are using on the site. Are the fonts black?
Some options that you have are:
- Displaying a white background box with an icon in red. i.e. exclamation mark
- Dark red border
- white border dotted line
If you get a good icon - noticeable border - contrast colour and it's consistent and clear that is an error it ...
3
You can use a yellow border.
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