I installed the Wordpress iPhone app in order to obtain a little more flexibility on how I publish content … and also because the experience designer inside me foams at the mouth at the prospect of performing a task in a new way. The app is great. It empowers users to publish to blogs hosted by Wordpress or on their own servers.
In attempting to connect to this blog, I encountered an error. One of my pet peeves is poor error messaging. If an application is going to stop me from accomplishing a task, i’d like a little guidance as to how I may help myself to overcome the nuisance without having to resort to some knowledge base or Google, the great knowledge base of the internets. I’m looking at you and your cryptic, code bearing, 0×1278365 messages – Microsoft.
To my most pleasant surprise, the message provided by the Wordpress App allowed me to fix the problem with relative ease. Here it is:
The message clearly states the problem and how to fix it. However, things can usually be improved or done differently. So, how might one improve on this message?
Part of the challenge here is that this message was presented on my iPhone, meaning I can’t easily copy and paste the URL to get to the desired location. The lazy person in me rather not attempt to type the URL … missed a letter, doh! A more useful message might be one directing me to the correct location within the application, namely Settings > Writing.
Messaging is critical to more usable applications. It’s not uncommon for users to encounter errors. Use those opportunities to efficiently communicate with users and walk them through a potentially stressful experience. It will only make the experience stronger and everyone can quickly get back to accomplishing their tasks – usually something other than dealing with errors.
Tags: user experience review, Wordpress