In the interview for a previous role, I was told there was a major issue with error messaging. Individual messages were being written independently across projects and by different parties, including analysts, designers, upper management, and developers. Immediately upon joining the UX team, I set about creating consistency, clarity, and conciseness across error messaging in our digital channels.
In composing error messages, I stick to 4 essential principles. I derived some of them from an inspiring Medium article I came across years ago, but I’ve adapted them over time based on personal experience.
Don’t scare the user Like any copytext, error messages should avoid alarming the user. We want to decrease their anxiety in any and all situations. Here in particular, something has already gone wrong, and the user may be more vulnerable to further frustration.
Tell them what happened in reasonable detail “An error occurred.” Of course an error occurred! I’m looking at a screen that clearly isn’t displaying what I want. It’s important to explain not only what happened, but also why. Detail is useful, but to a certain point. It makes sense to explain that a user was unable to log in because their password was wrong, but describing how a page is failing to load because of its connection to a 3rd party service is too much technical detail.
Give them a path forward Even if that path is something potentially time consuming — like calling customer service — it’s better than nothing. The most frustrating experiences occur when you’re using a tool (digital or not), it breaks or malfunctions, and you have no way forward toward accomplishing your goal.
Use an appropriate tone The user is likely already frustrated because their experience has been disrupted. This is not the time for attempts at humor or brand-reinforcing lightheartedness. Clarity and conciseness are the way to go.
