95
votes
Should software refer to itself in the first-person, especially in error messages?
No.
Trying to give applications personality is one of those things that's just not well thought out. It definitely seems like it's one of those solutions that developers came up with and never user ...
- 5,321
79
votes
Accepted
What color for error messages for a form with a red background?
I'd go with a color that'll always retain stark contrast. I'd also avoid venturing too far outside of the styles that that users are generally familiar with. Because you're working in an atypical ...
- 1,292
69
votes
What color for error messages for a form with a red background?
I would go with something in the shade of the background, but have a more red text in the alert. You can add a border in the shade of the text to make it stand out as an error more, as well.
- 809
50
votes
When is an exception message too big?
tl;dr:
Some of the invoices are not eligible for payment. They were excluded from payment processing. [details]
Error messages should separate two things:
Information for the end user (What they ...
- 7,608
50
votes
Should we auto-select a new default payment method when the current default expired?
Don't select a new default card for the user. Usually it's nice for the system to help the user recover from a problem through strong new default, but your instincts are valid in this case. Even if ...
- 12k
43
votes
What color for error messages for a form with a red background?
A bright yellow background with black text would work well.
Fits the colour scheme of a warning sign.
- 549
29
votes
Accepted
Necessity of writing the number "404" on a 404 page?
Include the 404 — problem solvers will appreciate it
There’s no better or more concise way to communicate the nature of the problem to experts who may have to help your user.
“404” on your error pages ...
- 3,941
26
votes
Accepted
Handling plurals in notification messages
How about pushing the development team to use some logic?
Based on the selected records - let them switch the string of feedback message. For instance, if the user selects only one record to delete, ...
- 16.2k
24
votes
What color for error messages for a form with a red background?
The standard color for error messages is red, see this question :
One important point to understand is that using conventional colors
for errors is important because they make the errors more ...
- 7,781
22
votes
Accepted
Reset password, appropriate response if email doesn't exist?
The easiest way to implement this is to say
If a matching account was found an email was sent to [email protected] to allow you to reset your password.
I've seen this on a few sites lately, though at ...
- 881
21
votes
What color for error messages for a form with a red background?
You might try adding a white border, then play with the background color.
The one color that communicates 'something is wrong' louder than red is the color of death, black.
20
votes
Accepted
Should an 'error message' be shown before or after user interaction?
As a general principle, I always think of error messages as inferior design/ UI, which in most cases can and should be avoided. If the user interaction triggers an error message, why would the UI ...
- 1,424
18
votes
Accepted
Should we auto-select a new default payment method when the current default expired?
...user should have full control over what card they want to use for a transaction...
Rather than make that decision for users, give them the ability to make that decision beforehand...
Replace ...
- 2,615
17
votes
What color for error messages for a form with a red background?
That's an accessibility nightmare!
Try reversing your error message styles: Red text on a white background.
- 14.2k
17
votes
Should I use error message or warning message for optional field validations?
In this case since the user has tried to upload an invalid format, regardless that it is optional, it counts as an error.
Warnings and Errors can be defined as such:
WARNINGS should appear when ...
- 7,371
15
votes
Should software refer to itself in the first-person, especially in error messages?
You should use simple and direct language to communicate with the users. When writing error messages be polite and provide meaningful actionable messages. Keep the apologies for cases when the mistake ...
- 196
12
votes
Accepted
Desktop app status bar: Notification vs error message
There's a third option similar to the one used on this page: the message tray icon that is only activated when it has some content with the corresponding number.
Advantage:
The message tray can ...
- 18.3k
11
votes
Accepted
A clear error message for wrong password format
I would recommend writing it in clear requirements and state which requirement is not fulfilled by the user. Such as
Your password must be have at least
8 characters long
1 uppercase &...
- 3,719
11
votes
Material Design - How to display an error on a larger screen
The material design guidelines have a section called Errors.
For your use case, it recommends:
If two or more fields have incompatible inputs:
In the text field, indicate a fix is needed. Add an ...
- 2,766
11
votes
Why use graphical illustrations on error pages?
I think it's done because of a couple of reasons.
1. To be welcoming to the user
Error 404 never occurs in a situation where everything is alright. The same goes for connectivity errors, server ...
- 6,799
10
votes
How do I manage form validation for either/or fields
Since the validation is for two fields they should be marked together. I prefer, when the UI says what's wrong. So I sugest to have a message below the validation like "Please fill in either a city or ...
- 3,415
10
votes
What color for error messages for a form with a red background?
Building off of several other answers:
Never only rely on color. Adding an icon or text or texture not only helps colorblind people, but also makes things a bit easier for regular-seeing people.
...
- 8,311
10
votes
Warning message on a successful action
This file will be uploaded even if there are warnings because the
warnings are solved by the application itself.
By referring to your sentence above, would it be worth allocating that much of space ...
- 16.2k
9
votes
Accepted
Warning message on a successful action
The process is successful, but there are warnings detected
What you have is Notice1 + Notice2 + Action.
Product upload successful + There were warnings + View warnings
The examples you propose ...
- 16.8k
9
votes
A clear error message for wrong password format
A minimum 8 characters password contains a combination of uppercase
and lowercase letter and number are required.
That error message sounds awkward and confusing because it's written in a passive ...
- 14.4k
9
votes
User friendly error message for invisible reCAPTCHA
You mentioned that in most cases a refresh and submitting the form again would resolve the error, but it seems that a refresh and second attempt would not actually resolve it if:
someone is coming ...
- 973
8
votes
What would be a user-friendly error message for HTTP request timeout?
You could have the app check the signal strength and accordingly give out a message.
For E.G
If the network is strong and there still is a timeout, you could show something like this
Looks like ...
- 598
8
votes
Necessity of writing the number "404" on a 404 page?
As you say "I don't think the average user knows or cares what 404 signifies" so it doesn't matter to him.
But to the technical user the 404 gives extra information.
So if the decision is between ...
- 16.8k
8
votes
Accepted
How to display a "Log in" error in Material Design?
Try using a toast in material design:
Material-UI Snackbars Docs
I think this should solve your problem. If not try cards:
In this case, clicking on the icon reveals the error text.
The main thing ...
- 1,731
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible