error messages in software applications

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Error Messages in Software Error Messages in Software Applications Applications Raghunath G. Soman

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Page 1: Error Messages In Software Applications

Error Messages in Software Error Messages in Software ApplicationsApplications

Raghunath G. Soman

Page 2: Error Messages In Software Applications

What Are Error What Are Error Messages…Messages…“Error message” refers to the text

or image displayed by a program when it encounters some problem during its execution.

It can be:◦A Message box◦A Warning◦A Confirmation◦A Question, or ◦A Status Report

Page 3: Error Messages In Software Applications

Most Error Messages are so Most Error Messages are so bad…bad…… because they’re written by

people who have an intimate knowledge of the program!

These people often fail to recognize that the program will be run by other people, who don’t have such knowledge.

Page 4: Error Messages In Software Applications

An Ideal Error MessageAn Ideal Error Message……Gives a notification that a

problem occurred.Gives a brief explanation of why

the problem occurred.And provides a solution to the

user for fixing the problem.

Page 5: Error Messages In Software Applications

A Good Error MessageA Good Error Message Should…Should……be Visible and highly noticeable.…identify the program that is

posting the error. …provide Explicit indication that

something has gone wrong and alert the user to the specific problem .

…provide Precise description of problem, rather than vague generalities such as “syntax error”.

Page 6: Error Messages In Software Applications

A Good Error MessageA Good Error Message Should…Should……provide specific details as to

how the problem may be solved.… suggest where the user can

obtain further help. …provide all the relevant

information to the tech support. …have Human-readable

language: No obscure codes, abbreviations or jargon.

Page 7: Error Messages In Software Applications

A Good Error MessageA Good Error Message Should… Should… …give Constructive advice on how to fix the

problem. Instead of just saying "out of stock," it should either tell users when the product will be available or provide a way for the users to be notified when the product is restocked.

…Preserve as much of the user's work as possible. Allow the users to correct only errors instead of having to do everything all over again.

…Reduce the work of correcting the error.If possible, guess the correct action and let users pick it from a small list of fixes.

Page 8: Error Messages In Software Applications

What is a "bad error What is a "bad error message?"message?"Simply put, a bad error message

is a dialog box or error that doesn't make sense to anyone but the person who programmed it in the first place.

Page 9: Error Messages In Software Applications

An Error Message Should An Error Message Should NOTNOT………suggest an action that will fail to

solve the problem and thus waste the customer’s time.

…contain information that is unhelpful, redundant, incomplete, or inaccurate.

…blame users or imply that they are either stupid or doing something wrong, as in "illegal command."

Page 10: Error Messages In Software Applications

Error Messages that Error Messages that suck….suck….

Can anyone tell me why the Mac OS team chose a picture of a bomb to put on their error message?Not the most friendly thing to see…. Esp. when you have committed an error !ral: Do Not Scare your users!>

Page 11: Error Messages In Software Applications

"Valid authentication credentials were not provided."... Did it mean to say that my password is wrong?

al: Know your audience. Speak its language.>

Page 12: Error Messages In Software Applications

This one states something that is entirely obvious……but fails to state anything that is helpful.

If more than one error condition posts this dialog, there's no way to tell which one caused the problem.

<Moral: Don’t just report the error, help to solve it.>

Page 13: Error Messages In Software Applications

Really? Really? Which action? Which

action? How do I fix the problem? How do I fix the problem?

Moral: Use meaningful sentences.>

Page 14: Error Messages In Software Applications

Lots & Lots of data here… but User has no clue as to what to do. Based on the information presented in this message, why should the user choose Yes? Why should the user choose No?

<Moral: Sometimes, too much info can be a bad idea.>

Page 15: Error Messages In Software Applications

And one that shines…And one that shines…

Error messages can't always be expressed in three simple sentences. Being concise is an important goal, but for critical messages it should not be the primary goal.

Page 16: Error Messages In Software Applications

While writing error While writing error messages…messages…Anticipate the possible error conditions.

Ensure that each condition in the program that has a chance of failure returns a distinct error code.

Display this code as a part of the error message.

Remember the program's state at the time when the error occurred, and permit the user to restore that state easily.

Page 17: Error Messages In Software Applications

While writing error While writing error messages…messages…Create error handling classes and functions

to supply coherent, well-formatted error messages. Re-use them consistently.

Provide each and every error message to someone else for review. The reviewer should not be an expert in the program.

Use code reviews and walk-throughs with other developers and quality assurance to ensure that the program is readable, consistent, maintainable, and free of un-handled errors.

Page 18: Error Messages In Software Applications

Usability Test For Error Usability Test For Error MessagesMessages

Conduct an usability test on the error messages with your target users. Here are some things to check for:

Did the users understand the context of the

message? Did they understand the message text? Did they obtain all the information required to

respond intelligently? What decision did they make? Why? Are they confident that they made the right

decision? Did they understand the consequences of the

decision? Was the decision correct under the circumstances?

Page 19: Error Messages In Software Applications

To Conclude…To Conclude…The error messages will be read by:

◦ the customer, ◦ the tech support person who handles the

call,◦ the quality assurance analyst who tracks

down the problem, and ◦ the maintenance programmer who is

charged with fixing the problem in the code.Each person in this process represents a cost

to the company.While the error-handling routine need be

written only once, the support path is typically followed many times--tens, or hundreds, or thousands of times.

Page 20: Error Messages In Software Applications

To Conclude…To Conclude…Developers, Testers, Technical writers and

technical support team must form an alliance and work in tandem.

Costs required to solve/sandbag a problem after the product has been released should be taken into account.

If the management wants to rush the product to market without leaving enough time for proper error handling, remind them politely of the cost of such an error !

Page 21: Error Messages In Software Applications

References…References…Michael Bolton@

developsense.comEverett McKay@

msdn.microsoft.comhttp://www.klariti.comhttp://www.useit.comhttp://www.wideopendoors.net

Page 22: Error Messages In Software Applications