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If somebody hits an error, they’re some mix of anxious, angry, or confused, and cute or unclear language does nothing to help. Yeah, and in this case, what lan

by dfxm12 4y ago

If somebody hits an error, they’re some mix of anxious, angry, or confused, and cute or unclear language does nothing to help. Yeah, and in this case, what language does help? Unless there's a call to action in the error message, I don't care if someone told me I broke the Internet, there's a picture of a whale, they tell me it's awkward, or if completely neutral language is used, none of that really makes me feel better about or helps me in my situation.

sublinear 4y ago
A helpful error message would quote or at least link to documentation. While they're at it, they should also fix their crappy docs!
- bombcar 4y ago
  I think part of the problem is that programmers now feel they "catch all errors" and so they don't really need (or even can) have descriptive error messages. Of course, that's not the case, and all sorts of errors get through, but they find them and put in fixes and don't update the "way" errors are displayed.
cosmotic 4y ago
I think the author is pointing out that, even if the error message is useless, it should not try to be funny. The funny bit is upsetting in these stressful situations.
bsuvc 4y ago
I understand what you're saying from a practical sense. But having cutesy error messages shows a complete lack of empathy for your users. Better to just communicate that there was a problem, and if you need to say anything else, maybe just a short "we're sorry, but there was a problem completing your request." Obviously more helpful information is better, but making light of your customers' stressful situation is the opposite of helpful.
- isleyaardvark 4y ago
  “My condolences.” https://youtu.be/T7f9xTPI9eo https://youtu.be/T7f9xTPI9eo
xboxnolifes 4y ago
You generally can't make someone feel better, but you can avoid aggravating them more.
clnq 4y ago
A clear instruction is the most helpful (“Try again or contact support”). A root cause reason for the error (“Connection timed out”) is somewhat helpful, an error code (“408”) can be at least a little bit helpful if user-facing or customer support-facing documentation exists. It’s not the job of the software to make the user feel better or be the user's friend. It is the software's job to accomplish a task effectively or to communicate why it can’t. Maybe some day we can have NN and LLM friends in the style of Blade Runner’s Joi - it would certainly be an interesting future to think about. Until then, software should focus on its core purpose, which is certainly not friendship with the user.

by dfxm12 4y ago

sublinear 4y ago

A helpful error message would quote or at least link to documentation. While they're at it, they should also fix their crappy docs!

bombcar 4y ago
I think part of the problem is that programmers now feel they "catch all errors" and so they don't really need (or even can) have descriptive error messages. Of course, that's not the case, and all sorts of errors get through, but they find them and put in fixes and don't update the "way" errors are displayed.

cosmotic 4y ago

I think the author is pointing out that, even if the error message is useless, it should not try to be funny. The funny bit is upsetting in these stressful situations.

bsuvc 4y ago

I understand what you're saying from a practical sense. But having cutesy error messages shows a complete lack of empathy for your users. Better to just communicate that there was a problem, and if you need to say anything else, maybe just a short "we're sorry, but there was a problem completing your request." Obviously more helpful information is better, but making light of your customers' stressful situation is the opposite of helpful.

isleyaardvark 4y ago
“My condolences.” https://youtu.be/T7f9xTPI9eo https://youtu.be/T7f9xTPI9eo

xboxnolifes 4y ago

You generally can't make someone feel better, but you can avoid aggravating them more.

clnq 4y ago

A clear instruction is the most helpful (“Try again or contact support”). A root cause reason for the error (“Connection timed out”) is somewhat helpful, an error code (“408”) can be at least a little bit helpful if user-facing or customer support-facing documentation exists. It’s not the job of the software to make the user feel better or be the user's friend. It is the software's job to accomplish a task effectively or to communicate why it can’t. Maybe some day we can have NN and LLM friends in the style of Blade Runner’s Joi - it would certainly be an interesting future to think about. Until then, software should focus on its core purpose, which is certainly not friendship with the user.