How to get users to read error messages?

Question

If you program for a nontechnical audience, you find yourself at a high risk that users will not read your carefully worded and enlightening error messages, but just click o

Answer 1

See also Slashdot's user responses here.

Answer 2

One good tip I've learned is that you should write a dialog box like a newspaper article. Not in the size-sense, but in the importance-sense. Let me explain.

You should write the most important things to read, first, and provide more detailed information second.

In other words, this is no good:

There was a problem loading the file, the file might have been deleted, or
it might be present on a network share that you don't have access to at
your present location.

Do you want to retry opening the file?

Instead, change the order:

Problem loading file, do you want to retry?

There was a problem loading the file, the file might have been deleted, or
it might be present on a network share that you don't have access to at
your present location.

This way, the user can read just as much as he wants, or bothers, and still have an idea about what's being asked.

Answer 3

From my experience: you don't get users (especially non-technical ones) to read error messages. No matter how clear and understandable, bold, red and flashing the message is, that you display, most users will just click anything away that they're not used to, even if it's "Do you really want to delete everything?". I have seen users click the "window close"-icon instead of "OK" or "cancel" even though they didn't even know which option they chose by doing so ...

If you really need to force users to read what you're displaying, I'd suggest a JavaScript-Countdown until a button is clickable. That way the user will hopefully use the waiting time to really read what he's supposed to. Be careful though: most users will be even more annoyed by that :)

I furthermore like your idea of a "read more"-link, although I doubt that will get users more interested that just want to get rid of the message by all means ...

Just for the record: there are users that DO read error messages but are so afraid that they won't do anything with it. I once had a support call where the customer would read an error message to me, asking me, what he should do. "Well, what are your options?", I asked. "The window only has an 'OK'-button.", he replied. ... mmh, hard one :)

Answer 4

Short answer: You can't.

Less short answer: Make them visible, relevant, and contextual (highlight what they messed up). But still, you're fighting a losing battle. People don't read on computer screens, they scan, and they've been trained to click the buttons until the dialog boxes go away.

Answer 5

Alerts/popups are annoying, that's why everyone hits the first button they see.

Make it less annoying. Example: if the user entered the date incorrectly, or entered a text where numbers are expected, then DON'T popup a message, just highlight the field and write a message somewhere around it.

Make a custom message box. Do not ever use the default message box of the system, for example Windows XP message boxes are annoying themselves. Make a new colored message box, with a different background color than system default.

Very Important: do not insist. Some message boxes use the Modal dialog and insist on making you read it, this is very annoying. If you can make the message box appear as a warning message it would be better, for example, Stack Overflow messages that appear right on the top of the page, informing but not annoying.

UPDATE
Make the message meaningful and helpful. For example, do not write something like, "No Keyboard found, press F1 to continue."

Answer 6

Show users that the error message has a meaning, and it's a way to provide assistance to them and they will read it. If it's just jargon-bable or generic nonsense message they will learn to dismiss them quicly.

I have learned that is very good practice to include an error dialog with default action to send (eg. via email) detailed diagnostic info, if you quickly respond to those emails with valuable information or workaround, they will worship you.

This is also a great learning tool. In future versions you can solve known-issues or at least provide in-place workaround info. Until then users will learn that this message is caused by X and the problem can by solved by Y - all because someone did explain it to them.

Of course this won't work on a large scale application, but works very well in enterprise applications with few hundred users, and in a lean agile, release early release often, environment.

EDIT:

Since you have a broad user base I recommend to provide software that does what users are/can expect it to do, eg. do not show them eroror message if phone number is not formatted well, reformat if for them.

I personally like software that does not make me think, and when occasionally there is nothing you (the developer) can do to interpret my intention, provide a very well written (and reviewed by actual users) messages.

It's common knowlege that people do not read documentation (did you read instructions back-to-back do when you did plugged in household appliance?), they try a way to get results quickly, when failed you have to grab their attention (eg. disable default button for a while) with meaningful and helpful info. They don't care about your sofware failure, they want to get results, now.