Use Progressive Disclosure

What should you do if you can't create an error message that meets all the requirements I've described earlier in a small amount of text? It's important to understand that you don't have to display absolutely everything in a single error message. The technique of presenting information only as it is needed is called progressive disclosure. Instead of displaying a simple error message that isn't too helpful, like this one:

or displaying a complete but overwhelming error message like this:

you can balance simplicity and completeness by displaying an error message that uses progressive disclosure, such as this one:

While you can present any text as the message box text, details text, and Help text, a good general technique is to present a summary of the error and its solution in the message box text, a detailed explanation in the details text, and the full solution in the Help text. In the example above, if the user presses the Details button the message box will look like this:

The information in the help file can be significantly more detailed than the information you put directly in the message box itself. For example, there is nothing wrong with putting training information in the Help text, since the user doesn't have to read it. You could present the same solution text presented previously (in the complex message box example) in a Help file, but for this particular problem an even better solution is to link the Help button to the Windows 98 Modem Troubleshooter:

TIP

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Use the Windows Troubleshooters for solutions to system problems.

Variations of progressive disclosure for this example would also be effective, specifically using only a Details button or using only a Help button. Whatever approach you choose, your goal should be to provide the necessary information without overwhelming the user.

TIP

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Use progressive disclosure for complex error messages.