[Lotus Notes Sucks: Example 23]
Stupid Error Messages
Problem
I don't remember what I was doing when I received the following message:
Analysis
But then again, it doesn't matter what I was doing. A user should never see a message like this. This message is completely useless because it doesn't tell me which file "may have been" damaged. Well, was it or not?
User Interface Guideline Violations
- Giving the user an incomplete error message. Specifically, what file? What was the damage? Is there some way to fix it?
- Interrupting the user's work flow with a dialog box that should never have a reason to appear.
- Error messages should be constructed so that they are grammatically correct and contain punctuation.
- Not helping the user fix the problem.
- Forcing the user to deal with stupidity.
Conclusion
Lotus Notes sucks.