Guidelines for Error Message Design

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 80-98
Author(s):  
Hein Pieterse ◽  
Helene Gelderblom
Keyword(s):  
Design Theory ◽  
Message Design ◽  
Heuristic Evaluation ◽  
Design And Development ◽  
Error Message ◽  
Early Evaluation ◽  
Individual Interviews

The presented study aims to develop a set of guidelines for error message design. A large amount of research is available in the literature on the topic of warning design. The same is not true for error messages. Although some research exists, the design of error messages is not covered to the same extent as warning design. To address this lack of research, a set of guidelines for error message design was developed from the literature regarding error message design, as well as from warning design theory. These guidelines were then evaluated through two usability studies (a heuristic evaluation and individual interviews with users) to determine whether they are valid and effective. The guidelines were refined based on the results of the usability studies. The final set of guidelines can be used to inform the design and development of error messages and facilitate early evaluation of interface prototypes.

scholarly journals P023: The BC Emergency Medicine Network: Evaluation approach and early findings

CJEM ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (S1) ◽  
pp. S71
Author(s):  
J. Marsden ◽  
S. Drebit ◽  
R. Lindstrom ◽  
C. MacKinnon ◽  
C. Archibald ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Medicine ◽  
Emergency Departments ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Formative Evaluation ◽  
Analysis Tool ◽  
Early Evaluation ◽  
Individual Interviews ◽  
Evaluation Approach ◽  
Online Discussion Forum ◽  
Online Engagement

Introduction: September 2017 saw the launch of the British Columbia (BC) Emergency Medicine Network (EM Network), an innovative clinical network established to improve emergency care across the province. The intent of the EM Network is to support the delivery of evidence-informed, patient-centered care in all 108 Emergency Departments and Diagnostic & Treatment Centres in BC. After one year, the Network undertook a formative evaluation to guide its growth. Our objective is to describe the evaluation approach and early findings. Methods: The EM Network was evaluated on three levels: member demographics, online engagement and member perceptions of value and progress. For member demographics and online engagement, data were captured from member registration information on the Network's website, Google Analytics and Twitter Analytics. Membership feedback was sought through an online survey using a social network analysis tool, PARTNER (Program to Analyze, Record, and Track Networks to Enhance Relationships), and semi-structured individual interviews. This framework was developed based on literature recommendations in collaboration with Network members, including patient representatives. Results: There are currently 622 EM Network members from an eligible denominator of approximately 1400 physicians (44%). Seventy-three percent of the Emergency Departments and Diagnostic and Treatment Centres in BC currently have Network members, and since launch, the EM Network website has been accessed by 11,154 unique IP addresses. Online discussion forum use is low but growing, and Twitter following is high. There are currently 550 Twitter followers and an average of 27 ‘mentions’ of the Network by Twitter users per month. Member feedback through the survey and individual interviews indicates that the Network is respected and credible, but many remain unaware of its purpose and offerings. Conclusion: Our findings underscore that early evaluation is useful to identify development needs, and for the Network this includes increasing awareness and online dialogue. However, our results must be interpreted cautiously in such a young Network, and thus, we intend to re-evaluate regularly. Specific action recommendations from this baseline evaluation include: increasing face-to-face visits of targeted communities; maintaining or accelerating communication strategies to increase engagement; and providing new techniques that encourage member contributions in order to grow and improve content.

scholarly journals On Compiler Error Messages: What TheySayand What TheyMean

2010 ◽  
Vol 2010 ◽  
pp. 1-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Javier Traver
Keyword(s):  
Human Computer Interaction ◽  
Computer Science ◽  
Message Design ◽  
Science Students ◽  
Error Message ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Computer Interaction

Programmers often encounter cryptic compiler error messages that are difficult to understand and thus difficult to resolve. Unfortunately, most related disciplines, including compiler technology, have not paid much attention to this important aspect that affects programmers significantly, apparently because it is felt that programmers should adapt to compilers. In this article, however, this problem is studied from the perspective of the discipline of human-computer interaction to gain insight into why compiler errors messages make the work of programmers more difficult, and how this situation can be alleviated. Additionally, because poorly designed error messages affect novice programmers more adversely, the problems faced by computer science students while learning to program are analyzed, and the obstacles originated by compilers are identified. Examples of actual compiler error messages are provided and carefully commented. Finally, some possible measures that can be taken are outlined, and some principles for compiler error message design are included.

scholarly journals User-Friendly Locations of Error Messages in Web Forms: An Eye Tracking Study

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yavuz Inal
Keyword(s):  
Error Correction ◽  
Message Design ◽  
Time Error ◽  
Error Message ◽  
Recognition Time ◽  
Input Field ◽  
Error Recognition ◽  
The Right ◽  
User Friendly ◽  
The Given

Error messages presented to users are one of the most important elements of Web forms. Error messages are embedded in different parts of the forms available on the Internet and presented in various formats. One of the measures of a user-friendly error message design is the ability to easily capture users’ attention and facilitate fast error correction. In this empirical study, I tested four different locations of error messages frequently used in Web forms on 32 participants. In addition, I analysed the participants’ interactions with error messages through their eye movements. The results of the study showed that the participants spotted the error message fastest when it was displayed on the right side of the erroneous input field. When error messages displayed further the input field users have less saccades to and fixations on error messages compared to those located near to this field, suggesting that less effort has been spent to understand the given message. However, group mean dif-ferences were not statistically significant for form completion time, error recognition time, the number of saccades, and error correction time.

scholarly journals Heuristic Evaluation of Children’s Authoring Tool for Game Making

2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (9) ◽  
pp. 259-264
Author(s):  
Laili Farhana Md
Keyword(s):  
Game Design ◽  
Mental Development ◽  
Authoring Tool ◽  
Authoring Tools ◽  
Heuristic Evaluation ◽  
Design And Development ◽  
Five Elements ◽  
Computing Department ◽  
Development Course

The main purpose of the study is to evaluate the heuristic inspection of children’s authoring tools to develop games. The researcher has selected 15 authoring tools for making games specifically for educational purposes. Nine students from Diploma of Game Design and Development course and four lecturers from the computing department involved in this evaluation. A set of usability heuristic checklist used as a guideline for the students and lecturers to observe and test the authoring tools selected. The study found that, there are just a few authoring tools that fulfil most of the heuristic requirement and suitable to apply to children. In this evaluation, only six out of fifteen authoring tools have passed above than five elements in the heuristic inspection checklist. The researcher identified that to develop a usable authoring tool developer has to emphasis children acceptance and interaction of the authoring tool. Furthermore, the authoring tool can be a tool to enhance their mental development especially in creativity and skill.

Hate the Sin, Love the Saints: Activities Versus Actors in Message Design

2017 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 114-128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew S. McGlone ◽  
Elizabeth M. Glowacki
Keyword(s):  
Cosmetic Surgery ◽  
Design Theory ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Message Design ◽  
Reported Study ◽  
Human Actors

The reported study investigated the persuasive effects of nouns describing activities and their human actors in message design. Fictitious op-ed essays were created from the point of view of authors taking a complimentary or critical stance on two controversial topics. Different versions were created in which activity nouns ( immigration, cosmetic surgery) or actor nouns ( immigrants, cosmetic surgeons) referring to the topics were manipulated orthogonally to essay stance. Participants considered essays praising actors to be more persuasive than others praising activities, but were more persuaded by essays indicting activities than actors. The implications for message design theory and practice are discussed.

scholarly journals Smart design engineering: leveraging product design and development to exploit the benefits from the 4th industrial revolution

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcus Vinicius Pereira Pessoa
Keyword(s):  
Product Design ◽  
Process Improvement ◽  
Design Theory ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Design Engineering ◽  
Design And Development ◽  
Analysis And Design ◽  
Key Dimensions

Abstract The 4th industrial revolution (IR) requires new products and business models adjusted to the rapidly changing market conditions, which calls for evolutions in design engineering. In this context, smart design engineering is here defined as a methodology used during the analysis and design of a product or a system, which can be composed by hardware, software and/or services, and that explicitly considers exploiting the technologies and opportunities from the 4th IR. This work contributes to both design theory and practice: (i) it deepens the understanding about the necessary smart design engineering features and shows how these features impact the product design and development process’s (PDDP) key dimensions (procedures, people and tools); (ii) it maps the features’ impact on PDDP’s phases, thus providing practical direction for process improvement. To accomplish these results, a survey was performed on the initial features presented in the literature, which helped to identify new features and to confirm their relation to the 4th IR and their impact on the PDDP. These features were then analyzed against the 4th IR environment perspectives and core technologies, which led to understanding how they can be used to improve the PDDP.

scholarly journals Incorporating Heuristic Evaluation (HE) in the Evaluation of Visual Design of the Eco-Tourism Smartphone App

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-34
Author(s):  
Tanalachimi Ganapathy ◽  
Mohd kamal Othman ◽  
AbdulRazak Saleh Yahya
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Application ◽  
Rating Scale ◽  
Smartphone App ◽  
Heuristic Evaluation ◽  
Smartphone Applications ◽  
Design And Development ◽  
Severity Rating ◽  
Minor Problem ◽  
Mobile Usability ◽  
Smart Mobile

Heuristic Evaluation (HE) has proven to be important in the development of different computer systems but has not been incorporated in the development of eco-tourism smartphone applications. This results inusability issues that significantly affect user experience (UX) as discussed in literature. This study reports the HE in the design and development of Niranur Agro Farm (NAF) eco-tourism smartphone applications, which could improve UX. Eight experts participated in this study, utilizing the SMART mobile usability heuristic developed for mobile application and the severity rating scale to determine usability issues. The HE findings indicated that 22 usability issues were identified. One issue was rated 4 (catastrophe), four issues were rated 3 (major problem), twelve issues were rated 2 (minor problem) and five issues were rated 1 (cosmetics). Although there are issues rated as 4 and 3, the majority of the issues were considered to be minor (1 and 2 on the scale). Results indicated that it is crucial to incorporate HE into the design and development of the eco-tourism smartphone app to minimize the usability issues faced by users. It further validated that utilizing a specific heuristic for smartphone applications would ensure that all usability issues are correctly categorized and remedied.

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