Error Handling | Pathfinder Development | Software Developers

Error Messages & Usability

Alice Toth, Thursday, September 3, 2009 @ 6:12 am

I was starting up one of the Adobe apps the other day when this somewhat troublesome message was displayed:

error_adobe

Ack! On the one hand, good for them for alerting me that an error had occurred. On the other hand, what's up with that message? I had no idea what I could do beyond clicking ok (and after reading the message I wasn't sure all was ok). A bit unnerving, but it did get me thinking about how applications deal with error messages.

The idea that non-technical users will be viewing error messages is one of those things that tends to be overlooked. You’re so focused on getting all the features up and working that dealing with errors on the presentation layer are often left out of both design and implementation.

Even if time is crunched on a project, however, here are three scenarios you should always cover in a user-friendly fashion: Continue reading »

Topics: error handling, Software Development Best Practices, Usability

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Topic: error handling

Error Messages & Usability

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