Worst UI Ever? Error Messages Part 2

I can't take credit for finding this one but it is a great example of how not to treat the user. I won't bother to repeat all my thoughts here but you can read them in the comments of the original blog.

However, I will take a moment to summarize what should be a global philosophy for anyone creating software. Here it is:

"Software is a tool to be used by humans to accomplish something. It is NOT a tool used by computers to accomplish something."

When you step back and think about it, it seems obvious. I buy and use software because I need to accomplish something (editing photos, paying bills, communicating with friends) in a way that is easier than the way I used to do it. The last thing I want is to feel like I am driven by what the software wants from me.

If a person said, "write your phone number down for me" and I wrote 555.555.5555, (555) 5555555 or 555 555-5555 then they would have no problem understanding that. If they said to me that when they think of phone numbers, they think of the format (555) 555-5555 and then asked me to write it in that format I would laugh and not expect to actually have to do it. I don't think it is asking too much of the software developer to implement that kind of logic. Some human-like logic is hard to implement obviously but some isn't. An when it is done, it can have a huge impact on the opinion a user will have of your software.

Worst UI Ever? - Error Messages

Here is another one for the Worst UI Ever series. This is from an application for a a very big software company's time tracking application. These kinds of things are part of the reason I developed Klok. You get this message when you select a project for your timesheet, but don't enter all any timefor that line item. To me, this doesn't even seem like an error. The system can easily ignore line items that have no hours.

At first glance, the message has to be one of the most confusing I have ever read. Click to enlarge it.

"You have entered time information without associating any time with that information. Enter time for this information, or remove it"...ummm....huh?

If you read it a couple of times, it makes sense. But you have to make an assumption about what "information" means. The user shouldn't have to assume or guess anything. If that this is an error that the system can't handle, would it have been impossible to say "You have not entered any time for Project X. Enter your hours or remove Project X from your timesheet". They even could have made "remove Project X" a link making it simpler for the user.

I find these types of issues all over the place. Usually they are due to laziness of the designers/developers or lack of commitment to the end user by companies in general. To a product owner this might not seem like a big deal. However, imagine a user getting this error the first time they use your software. What kind of first impression is that?

The number one thing to remember is that software is supposed to help people do what they need to do. It isn't meant to help computers do what they need to do.