Do you think I should end this year with a ranting? Well, you think or not, I’ll do, because it’s something that bugs me to no end, literally.
Just how difficult is it for a web application programmer to integrate two different types of error messages to his amazing login system? And by two types I mean:
The username you provided does not exist in our database, please retry.
…and…
The password you provided is wrong, please retry.
It’s not rocket science, it’s not even a politically correct way (and by politically I mean usability-wise) to signify login errors. It’s just two sentences that can help you decide if you’ve typed your password wrong or if you’ve selected the “other” nickname you use when you have signed up.
Latest culprit: The coComment site. After some months of absence, I decided to give it a try again. And this is what it greeted me with:
What did I do wrong? Was my username OR my password erroneous?!
Now I must go back and check my Hotmail and Gmail accounts, to check if there is any confirmation e-mail with my subscription data in it.
Hhhrmpf.
Happy New Year, everyone.
P.S. An excellent book to read, just to get your error messages (and more) right: Defensive Design for the Web. One of the best books I’ve ever read on web design, period.
usability, login error, defensive design for the web, error messages
