Examples of Good and Bad Error Messages 

The following sections list examples of bad and reformulated error messages (without comments) to illustrate the above-mentioned guidelines.

Messages Which can be Formulated More Specifically

Bad:

Key & not in table &

Good:

Distribution channel & is not expected (Check your entry)

Bad:

The cursor is not placed on a line which can be selected

Good:

For the selection, position the cursor on a line of the table

Bad:

Release order specifications incomplete

Good:

Complete release order specifications by specifying order type, distribution channel

Bad:

List was not completely processed

Good:

List process cancelled at system limit (99 pages)

 

Messages Formulated Less Ambiguously

Bad:

The line & & & & is not in table 134

Good:

The combination of lines input is not valid

 

It would be better to explain this message in detail in a dialog box. Or it is given in the short text as above, and the reference to the individual entry fields then appears in the long text.

Bad:

Entries incomplete

Good:

Complete your entries

Bad:

No change

Good:

Entries were not copied, as they already exist

 

It is important to formulate the message from the point of view of the user and not from the system's perspective.

User Prompt Messages

Bad:

Deletion flag incorrect, only 'J', 'S', ' ' allowed.

Good:

Enter 'J', 'S' or ' ' as deletion flags

Bad:

Postal code not entered or has incorrect length.

Good:

Enter postal code in defined length

Bad:

Percentage rate must be smaller than 100%

Good:

Enter percentage rate between 0 and 100

Bad:

No items selected

Good:

Select items in the list first

Bad:

Release date entered incorrectly

Good:

Enter the release date in the form MM.DD.YYYY