Error messages are still written for developers, not users. Why?
HCI Today summarized the key points
- •This article discusses how to write error messages (error message) that help users.
- •Many error messages either say too little or provide information that is technically correct but useless to users.
- •Good error messages should tell users what went wrong, whether it’s the user’s responsibility or the app’s responsibility, and what they should do next.
- •However, in practice, you often can’t immediately identify the cause, so it’s realistic to ask users to retry and to provide specific guidance about the failed items.
- •In the end, the key is to make it possible for users to judge their next action even when explaining the exact cause is difficult.
This summary was generated by an AI editor based on HCI expert perspectives.
Why Read This from an HCI Perspective
This article helps you see error messages not as mere ‘technical output,’ but as a key point of contact in user experience (UX) and recoverability. From an HCI practitioner or researcher’s perspective, it’s a chance to revisit why information architecture matters—specifically, how it helps users understand what happened after an error and choose their next action. In particular, the design perspective of separating ‘what failed’ from ‘what to do next’ is especially useful.
CIT's Commentary
From a CIT perspective, the core of this article is that there are many moments when ‘actionable guidance’ matters more than ‘accurate diagnosis.’ Even if you can’t fully identify the cause of an error, it’s important to be honest with users about uncertainty and to offer possible options—such as prompting retries, checking which items partially succeeded/failed, or connecting them to customer support. In HCI, this is viewed as an information design problem for error messages—especially in contexts where system state is obscured, such as bulk operations or asynchronous processing. Ultimately, good error messages are the minimal recovery mechanism that reduces users’ cognitive burden while avoiding blame-shifting.
Questions to Consider While Reading
- Q.When you can’t determine the exact cause of an error, how much should you explain to the user?
- Q.In features where partial failure is possible, what structure is most effective for error messages and follow-up guidance?
- Q.In errors where user responsibility and system responsibility are mixed, how should you design to reduce blame while maintaining clarity?
This commentary was generated by an AI editor based on HCI expert perspectives.
Please refer to the original for accurate details.
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