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We are using material design messaging guidelines in a complex system,

the problem: in case I have an issue with a form and the issue is a non critical one, I will show a banner,

In case I have a form in a pop up window, I will not close the window until the server returns an answer,

The question: what should I do in case there is a non critical error after submitting a pop up form?

The reason I am asking is because a banner on top of a pop up seems odd, it seems like it is not focused to the issue, but in fact it is outside the window of the issue.

enter image description here

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    Make the banner display at the top of the pop-up, not the main page?
    – TripeHound
    Jul 23, 2018 at 10:09
  • do you have an example?
    – Eran Bar
    Jul 23, 2018 at 10:24
  • Not to hand, but when there is a pop-up on screen, make the "where to show messages/alerts" area "inside" the pop-up, just below the title bar (instead of, presumably, just below the navigation bar of the main screen).
    – TripeHound
    Jul 23, 2018 at 10:28
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    is critical or not? It's a completely different scenario. Also, if it's critical, what do you expect the user to do? By the look of your banner, while you say is non critical everything from color, message and actions looks like very critical
    – Devin
    Jul 23, 2018 at 19:00

1 Answer 1

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If the error (non-critical or otherwise) is related to the attempt to submit the pop-up form, and logically should be shown before the dialog is dismissed, then move the banner position to the pop-up itself. This will focus the error more closely to where it applies:

enter image description here

In this example, there's a possible "conflict" between the RETRY and DISMISS buttons in the banner and the Save and Cancel button of the pop-up form. If you keep the ones in the banner, it may be sensible to disable at least the Save button until the user has dismissed the banner. (As Big_Chair pointed out in a comment, it is probably best to leave the Cancel button enabled so the user can dismiss the whole dialog without having to deal with the banner).

Alternatively, you could remove the buttons from the banner (maybe just have a X on the right to dismiss it) and have the Save button change to Retry. Whether you do this or have buttons in both places may depend on the type of error that has occurred.

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    Two remarks: 1. I think keeping both sets of buttons is more logical and won't confuse a user who might not notice the text change on the bottom button. 2. Only disable the "Save" button, so the user can still cancel the whole window if he gets confused/frustrated by the error message.
    – Big_Chair
    Jul 23, 2018 at 13:42
  • @Big_Chair Valid points (although it may depend on the type of error). I did at one point consider "disable the Save button (and possibly the Cancel) button". I might go back to something like that.
    – TripeHound
    Jul 23, 2018 at 13:49

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