Eliminating Error Messages

We can't eliminate error messages by simply discarding the code that shows the actual error message dialog box and letting the program crash if a problem arises. Instead, we need to rewrite the programs so they are no longer susceptible to the problem. We must replace the error-message with a kinder, gentler, more robust software that prevents error conditions from arising, rather than having the program merely complain when things aren't going precisely the way it wants. Like vaccinating it against a disease, we make the program immune to the problem, and then we can toss the message that reports it. To eliminate the error message, we must first eliminate the possibility of the user making the error. Instead of assuming error messages are normal, we need to think of them as abnormal solutions to rare problems—as surgery instead of aspirin. We need to treat them as an idiom of last resort.

Every good programmer knows that if module A hands invalid data to module B, module B should clearly and immediately reject the input with a suitable error indicator. Not doing this would be a great failure in the design of the interface between the modules. But human users are not modules of code. Not only should software not reject the input with an error message, but the software designer must also reevaluate the entire concept of what "invalid data" is. When it comes from a human, the software must assume that the input is correct, simply because the human is more important than the code. Instead of software rejecting input, it must work harder to understand and reconcile confusing input. The program may understand the state of things inside the computer, but only the user understands the state of things in the real world. Ultimately, the real world is more relevant and important than what the computer thinks.

Making errors impossible

Making it impossible for the user to make errors is the best way to eliminate error messages. By using bounded gizmos for all data entry, users are prevented from ever being able to enter bad numbers. Instead of forcing a user to key in his selection, present him with a list of possible selections from which to choose. Instead of making the user type in a state code, for example, let him choose from a list of valid state codes or even from a picture of a map. In other words, make it impossible for the user to enter a bad state.

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Make errors as impossible as possible.

Another excellent way to eliminate error messages is to make the program smart enough that it no longer needs to make unnecessary demands. Many error messages say things like "Invalid input. User must type xxxx." Why can't the program, if it knows what the user must type, just enter xxxx by itself and save the user the tongue-lashing? Instead of demanding that the user find a file on a disk, introducing the chance that the user will select the wrong file, have the program remember which files it has accessed in the past and allow a selection from that list. Another example is designing a system that gets the date from the internal clock instead of asking for input from the user.

Undoubtedly, all these solutions will cause more work for programmers. However, it is the programmer's job to satisfy the user and not vice versa. If the programmer thinks of the user as just another input device, it is easy to forget the proper pecking order in the world of software design.

Users of computers aren't sympathetic to the difficulties faced by programmers. They don't see the technical rationale behind an error message box. All they see is the unwillingness of the program to deal with things in a human way. They see all error messages as some variant of the one shown in Figure 33-2.

Figure 33-2: This is how most users perceive error message dialog boxes. They see them as Kafkaesque interrogations with each successive choice leading to a yet blacker pit of retribution and regret.

One of the problems with error messages is that they are usually post facto reports of failure. They say, "Bad things just happened, and all you can do is acknowledge the catastrophe." Such reports are not helpful. And these dialog boxes always come with an OK button, requiring the user to be an accessory to the crime. These error message boxes are reminiscent of the scene in old war movies where an ill-fated soldier steps on a landmine while advancing across the rice paddy. He and his buddies clearly hear the click of the mine's triggering mechanism and the realization comes over the soldier that although he's safe now, as soon as he removes his foot from the mine, it will explode, taking some large and useful part of his body with it. Users get this feeling when they see most error message boxes, and they wish they were thousands of miles away, back in the real world.

Positive feedback

One of the reasons why software is so hard to learn is that it so rarely gives positive feedback. People learn better from positive feedback than they do from negative feedback. People want to use their software correctly and effectively, and they are motivated to learn how to make the software work for them. They don't need to be slapped on the wrist when they fail. They do need to be rewarded, or at least acknowledged, when they succeed. They will feel better about themselves if they get approval, and that good feeling will be reflected back to the product.

Advocates of negative feedback can cite numerous examples of its effectiveness in guiding people's behavior. This evidence is true, but almost universally, the context of effective punitive feedback is getting people to refrain from doing things they want to do but shouldn't: Things like not driving over 55 mph, not cheating on their spouses, and not fudging their income taxes. But when it comes to helping people do what they want to do, positive feedback is best. Imagine a hired ski instructor who yells at you, or a restaurant host who loudly announces to other patrons that your credit card was rejected.

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User get humiliated when software tells them they failed.

Keep in mind that we are talking about the drawbacks of negative feedback from a computer. Negative feedback by another person, although unpleasant, can be justified in certain circumstances. One can say that the drill sergeant is at least training you in how to save your life in combat, and the imperious professor is at least preparing you for the vicissitudes of the real world. But to be given negative feedback by software—any software—is an insult. The drill sergeant and professor are at least human and have bona fide experience and merit. But to be told by software that you have failed is humiliating and degrading. Users, quite justifiably, hate to be humiliated and degraded. There is nothing that takes place inside a computer that is so important that it can justify humiliating or degrading a human user. We only resort to negative feedback out of habit.

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No crisis inside a computer is worth humiliating a human.