How Do You Get Users To Read Error Messages? 951
A BOFH writes "The longer I do desktop support, the more it becomes obvious that my users don't read anything that appears on their screen. Instead, they memorize a series of buttons to press to get whatever result they want and if anything unexpected happens, they're completely lost. Error logs help a lot, but they have their limits. I've been toying with a few ideas, but I don't know if any of them will work and I was hoping my fellow Slashdotters could point me in the right direction. For example, I was thinking about creating icons or logos to identify specific errors. They might not remember that an error is about 'uninitialized data' but they might be more able to remember that they got the 'puppy error' if I showed a puppy picture next to the error message. Or for times when finding images is too time consuming, you could create simple logos from letters, numbers, symbols, colors, or shapes, so you could have the 'red 5' error or 'blue square' error (or any combination of those elements). I've even wondered if it would be possible to expand that to cover the other senses, for example, playing a unique sound with the error. Unfortunately, haptic and olfactory feedback aren't readily available. I like to think that my users would remember the error that caused them to get a swift kick in the balls. And if they forgot it anyhow, I could always help them reproduce it. Does anyone else have experience with ideas like these? Did it work?"
Avoid what Firefox says (Score:1, Informative)
...when it can't restore the tabs from the previous browser session.
"Well, this is embarrassing!" or something OMG-idiotic like that. Just give us our home page and shut up.
Re:Waste of time. (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Waste of time. (Score:3, Informative)
Well, Ctrl+A, Ctrl+C, notepad, Ctrl+V
You can also hit PrtSc if they can't figure out how to hit Ctrl and the letter A at the same time. Then open Outlook, Paste it in, and mail it off.
[John]
Re:Electric Shock (Score:2, Informative)
the first two times i didn't care, but the third, and all the high and mighty caps forced me to step in and point out how silly you look.
why do you spell so bad?!#%*&!#^
Comment removed (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Pop up the error message in a box... (Score:3, Informative)
CAPTCHA!!!
My users already hate the CAPTCHA text they have to enter to reset their forum password. CAPTCHA on an error message would bring out the torches and pitchforks.
Several Firefox dialogs have a countdown timer, so the message has to stay visible for a certain amount of time before you can clear it. That seems a bit less intrusive. And there is always Windows XP's system-modal shutdown prompt, where the rest of the screen slowly goes monochrome if you wait long enough.
Re:Nagging Nora (Score:3, Informative)
Perhaps you should try understanding the problem domain a bit before criticizing. Pilot workload in the cockpit is amazing on regular planes under certain circumstances when it seems like the environment desires nothing more than the total destruction of your plane and your personal death. Pilot workload in a fighter aircraft is ramped up a bit because it involves much of what the regular plane does, with the added tasks of flying non-standard courses and attitudes, while being responsible for death-dealing weapons, while sometimes being in situations where people are trying to kill you in addition to the environment. Many people can't even talk on a cell phone without it altering their ability to maintain situational awareness in a car with just a 2D control set.
Its not so much ignoring a message as needing as many message channels available as possible (audio provides an additional channel with visual and tactile being used as well) with priority messages getting the most effective channel - the "Kitchen Voice" (apologies to National Lampoon's Doon).
Re:Their lips get tired (Score:2, Informative)
But there is a reason for the caps-lock key. Some people use it whenever they need to type capital letters, especially if they never learned to type with 9 fingers. Now you have a new group who will keep getting password wrong messages.