Seeking advice on the best way to phrase an error message?

[Geoff Hart <ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca>]

Tracy Taylor wondered: <<I'm trying to find the best way to phrase a  
specific error message in a common situation.  Basically, the  
application has a form that the user needs to enter, and let's say he  
or she leaves a field empty - in this case, it's Phone Number.>>

Nothing works quite so well as getting to the point, politely,  
without pointing the finger at anyone -- and as you note, clearly  
explaining what the reader must do to solve the problem. "Please add  
your phone number [format description] in the highlighted field." No  
need to preface this by saying the phone number is missing. You  
wouldn't be asking me to enter one if you thought one was present!

The "format description" should not be required, but I frequently see  
fields with no affordances telling me whether brackets and a hyphen  
are necessary -- or not -- then piss me right off by asking for a  
"valid" number without specifying what "valid" means. I usually get  
it after trying the two or three primary possibilities, but why make  
me go through this process? And you can never overuse "please".  
(Well, you can if you're sufficiently creative. <g>)

Good design would group the information under two headings: "Required  
information" and "Optional information". Forget about those stupid  
asterisks. If you've got to waste a line on the display anyway by  
explaining this in a footnote, you're better off building that  
footnote into the design and turning it into headings.

Also note that highlighting incorrect or missing information in red,  
which seems to have become some sort of Web-wide default, is a poor  
choice. Something like 5% of your audience (mostly male) won't be  
able to distinguish this highlighting from the background without  
painful squinting. Even those who can clearly see the color still  
have to scan through all the other information in an (often long)  
form to spot it. Why not present a new form containing only the  
fields that need to be redone? A bit more programming, but really not  
rocket science: if you can identify the field that contains the  
error, you can certainly redisplay only that field.

<<Current error message in the app I'm working in is:  "Phone Number  
is required and must have a value."  It's not the worst way to say  
it, especially for a system generated error message, but I'm  
wondering if there is a better way.>>

As noted above, "must have a value" isn't helpful. "I'm not stupid. I  
know you asked for my phone number. What value do you want? I thought  
I typed it correctly the first twelve times, but clearly your idea of  
valid ain't mine!"

<<Here's what Amazon said in a similar situation: "Important Messages  
There is a slight problem with your order. (See below.) You didn't  
enter a phone number. Please enter your full phone number below.">>

I'd call this a "not quite worst practice, but not really anything  
close to a best practice". <g> Of course it's an important message.  
Why would you be making me read it if it weren't important? A slight  
problem? Well then process me bloody order already. Don't bother me  
until you find a serious problem. [Thus: eliminate both parts. I'm  
overly fond of adjectives and adverbs in my own writing, but unless  
they're crucial to the meaning, they have little or no place in  
technical writing.]


----------------------------------------------------
-- Geoff Hart
ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca / geoffhart -at- mac -dot- com
www.geoff-hart.com
--------------------------------------------------
Coming soon:  _Effective onscreen editing_ (http://www.geoff-hart.com/ 
home/onscreen-book.htm)

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