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Should error messages apologize? (2013)

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Re: Should error messages apologize? (2013)

#41

Post by vanderZwan »

jxf wrote: post #30
vanderZwan wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The app didn't write the error message, the people implementing the app did. Any error message is just as much a form of communication between them and me as it is between the app and me.

But we can't identify which human wrote the message. There's a huge difference between a push notification that says: > Flight UA569 has been canceled. We apologize for the inconvenience and we will rebook you on the next available flight. and one that says: > Flight UA569 has been canceled. I apologize for the inconvenience and I will rebook you on the next available flight. — Alice

I'm not sure what you are trying to say.

Yes, there is a difference in the two examples you gave, although it would have been nice if you had been more specific about what you meant. What I notice is that the first option the apology comes from the company and the people in it, and intended to imply they see it as their responsibility to fix things. The second would imply that Alice is personally to blame for the cancellation and taking responsibility. Either are technically possible, although the latter seems very unlikely to ever happen.

What I fail to see is what this has to do with the error messages. The example given was "Sorry, you do not have permission to access this feature. Please contact your administrator for assistance", which falls under the first form. This seems appropriate for a message representing a team of people who wrote the program, as well as the administrator. It also is quite representative of the apology style seen in such messages.

Re: Should error messages apologize? (2013)

#42

Post by vanderZwan »

bhawks wrote: post #34
vanderZwan wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The app didn't write the error message, the people implementing the app did. Any error message is just as much a form of communication between them and me as it is between the app and me.

Is it possible to apologize in advance? For me an apology requires one party listen and understand the problem the other party experienced. They then convey that understanding back to the other party along with taking some amending action. The author of the error message is communicating in a unidirectional manner to the the receiver with limited context of the overall interaction. That is a difficult scenario to att…

Well the example error message just did, didn't it?

I see no reason why one would not be able to anticipate unavoidable inconveniences in advance and write an automated apology for it.

Re: Should error messages apologize? (2013)

#43

Post by 8organicbits »

I suspect there are cultural preferences here, there's no reason to believe there's one correct answer for all of humanity.

I'm from the US but I've traveled to places where it's considered rude to say "no" directly and apologies aren't common. Like when trying to order an unavailable item from a menu:

  - I'd like the beef burger
  - The chicken burger is very good
  - That's OK, can I have the beef burger?
  - Our hot dogs are also very good
I'd guess that text like "Access denied" or "You don't have access" would feel too direct and may come off as rude in that context. A "sorry" would feel out of place. Perhaps "This page is access restricted" would be best, as it alludes to the user not having access without directly saying it.

Conversely, I much prefer quick and direct communication with or without the apology: "[Sorry,] we don't have the beef burger."

I'd love to hear opinions of non-US and non-Westerners on this. We're in a thought bubble otherwise.

Re: Should error messages apologize? (2013)

#44

Post by cqqxo4zV46cp »

bhawks wrote: post #18

Never met an app that could actually feel sorry (maybe someday?). This type of behaviour just feels artificial and inauthentic in most products. If your making an error message effort I'd focus first on being clear, concise and actionable. Try to establish some expectations for the user so they know how and when things will be resolved, ensure you're monitoring and alerting is appropriate to hold yourself accountable…

A lot of software copy writing becomes so much easier when you ditch the silly facade of ‘the computer’ saying things. Instead treat the whole scenario as the software acting as an agent of the organisation, with the copy being written by a human on behalf of the organisation. So, a lot of “we…”.

This in my opinion makes software a whole lot more friendly, human, and overall just…usable. It gives way more opportunity to convey things in a way that doesn’t leave people scratching their heads and reaching for the knowledge base, where a lot of orgs are a lot less scared of writing like robots.

The issue though is the amount of software written by people in America, or should I say California, where there is a very distinct ‘fake-politeness’. I genuinely can’t tell whether or not they know how much it sticks out like a sore thumb to everyone else. In this case, the software being more human backfires, because allowing the human to shine through is just allowing us to see the shitty fake-happy way that humans at the organisation think that the organisation should be talking to customers.

TL;DR: writing like a human is good, unless your humans are bad.

Re: Should error messages apologize? (2013)

#45

Post by cqqxo4zV46cp »

dataflow wrote: post #16

I actually find these to be irritating if not kind of offensive. (Like the "we are experiencing larger than normal call volume" that literally always plays.) Who exactly is sorry here? The computer? It doesn't (yet?) have feelings. The engineers? They're not telepathic, they have no idea anything just happened to you, let alone feel sorry for it. It seems to be at best a random guess as to how some group of people is…

It’s pretty safe to assume that people find being on hold a neutral to negative experience. Not a whole lot of guesswork there.

Re: Should error messages apologize? (2013)

#46

Post by bhawks »

gary_0 wrote: post #31
bhawks wrote: post #18

Never met an app that could actually feel sorry (maybe someday?). This type of behaviour just feels artificial and inauthentic in most products. If your making an error message effort I'd focus first on being clear, concise and actionable. Try to establish some expectations for the user so they know how and when things will be resolved, ensure you're monitoring and alerting is appropriate to hold yourself accountable…

It depends on the message, but a "Sorry" can set the right tone so a user doesn't feel "yelled at". Omitting the pleasantry might make things seem too terse. Sorry, your e-mail failed to send. Your e-mail failed to send. I much prefer the first one. Software intended for typical end users should have a respectful tone and avoid sounding like it's blaming the user. On the other hand, something like strerror()'s output…

Both these error messages fail the "where do we go from here?" test - disrespecting the user with requiring open ended work on their part.

Having some breadcrumbs to get back to the right track is much more valuable than flowery wordings. Eg: Message too large - failed to send email. Network unavailable - failed to send email. Subscription expired - failed to send email. Unexpected service outage - https://email.io/status - failed to send email.

Re: Should error messages apologize? (2013)

#49

Post by hooby »

I think, error messages should put way more focus on what can be done to make it work - rather than on what went wrong.

The user wants to achieve something, and the general job of the software is to help the user achieve their goal.

If the goal of the user is to book a flight - then the software throwing an error about the request form not being filled out correctly, basically constitutes a bureaucratic hurdle.

"You will not be allowed to book your flight, unless you ask for it in exactly the right way!"

Sadly, software often has to be bureaucratic about it's input - but that's not actually helpful to the user. So you could argue, when the software rejects the users request because of not meeting bureaucratic demands - the software is failing it's primary job: to help the user.

A perfect software would not have to show an error message ever - because it would be so good at guiding the user, that everyone would intuitively know how to do it correctly. But "Perfect" does not exist.

So any software will at some point inevitably fail to guide the user to their desired outcome and be forced to display an error message.

There's nothing inherently wrong with being apologetic in tone for failing to guide the user and putting such bureaucratic stumbling blocks in their way.

But the error message should be focused on helping the user. On making things work. It should not be condescending nor assigning blame. It should also be short and concise, and respect the user's time.

And that means that there's no space for polite verbiage and apologetic phrases.

So, apologetic tone is fine, if it can be done without increasing the length of the message.

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