Few things on computers enrage me more than this. Tell me what's wrong and what I might do about it, don't act all cute and put your pinky to your lips. Be a professional for once.
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So much for the great business man who can get what he wants with negotiation. Trump’s negotiation isn’t negotiation, it’s bullying, intimidation, and outright criminal (all the contractors and other folks he just decides not to pay.)
I subscribe to the belief that all computers should come with a built-in kick plate so that when they annoy you it's possible to relieve your feelings. It won't solve anything, but at least you'll feel better.
To be fair, you can only anticipate what you can anticipate. An error handler has a catch-all error for the unanticipated. That might not be what this is, but it could be.
Thanks so much for following. I am new to Bluesky and don't have a clue what I am doing so I hope you get this expression of my gratitude. Be well and thank you again
Its crazy, idk when this started but at some point it became ok to go fully lazy on error reporting and just bunch it all into "it broke lol"
I say this as a software dev, too, it doesn't take long to give detailed errors. If you need to use a catchall error, at least link to a faq or *something*
It's taught that giving verbose error messages is a security issue in my university secure programming module, as it can reveal certain information about a system/website, so these types of error messages that give nothing are seen as "as secure as possible". Bit of an overcorrection imo
yeah I can see not giving too much information about the inner workings of the software
Like you say though, overcorrection, since you can still give a little bit of information or guidance which goes a long way for troubleshooting and bug reports
That error trapper is your defence against an otherwise completely non-responsive device. The alternative is a verbose debugging mode with text streaming down the screen like something out of the Matrix.
Don Norman, designer extraordinaire and visionary, despises this type of solution. Users need to understand, even in basic terms, what happened. Most folks can’t read an error log, but at least tell the “there was a connection error” or “our servers are having an issue”.
Most of our vehicles have error codes or lights that appear when something is wrong, and we, as users are treated as competent enough to address these warnings. Why does so much tech avoid actually treating us like adults?
None of you need to know what the issue is. Just that it exists and the team knows about it. Web designers aren’t out here making error codes for the 0.1 percent of users.
I take pride that I provided a full on network diagnostic error page that could basically run some quick client side checks if the SPA ran into an error after its initial launch, which could include "your internet is off" or "dns issue".
Sorry, but among the other valid reasons provided, there is a security concern as well. Some unhandled errors occur when a bad actor is probing the system. It's best not to give them the level of detail they need to dial in an attack.
You don't need to give details you need to allow then to recover. So a back to homepage and contact us link would help, you don't need to give them your source code. 🤷♂️
that's great if they actually can do something. But when you're talking about web and its server side... you're leaking details about your infrastructure that can be used against you and at best just frustrates the user who is powerless to do anything with the info they've been given
You assume your user knows what that means. This screen tells them what they need to know. Something’s wrong and the operators know about it (as a blip in their observability dashboard, but that’s a separate issue)
Nah. Screens like these, especially in teams, typically just mean the junk program is broken and you need to restart it so it works. These errors help absolutely no one. Idiots don't care, people who could know don't get any info
I just installed the Microsoft Windows 11 Media Creation Tool to fix my bug. The OS system is fine and all my files and apps are in exactly the same place they started out in after the install. The bug however, still exists! MS Get Help may resolve it but I have my doubts now.
>"Visit this link or scan this QR code for more information"
>It links to either:
*their knowledgebase homepage that, when searched in, contains none of the error code given
*the homepage of their website, because the KB has been depracated
*a 404 page
Good error reporting is a bit of an art. Sometimes the code just veers off and when the application catches it the root cause has been lost. Oh and there's cases where showing the user what happened would expose too much of the inner workings to pass the paranoid security officer's review.
But then: 1. Allow your user to recover, a link to the home page? 2. Allow them a route to support if the error means something serious, say halfway through a transaction. Contact us?
The only thing worse is when there's a button that says "diagnose problem". 99% of the time that button is about as useful as a jawless dog in a frisbee contest.
Blame product owners who ask for this sort of thing. I've fought for more intelligent error handling plenty of times & lost. Apparently this is what the people want.
Agree, but, problem is, 'it' really doesn't know what is wrong!!! No matter how I the A is, thank Asimov 'it' still needs the wetware to suss $#!t out. Blessed are the button pushers, for they shall know which plug to pull out of the wall 😊
You know, the error message could say that. “The program/system/hardware may have to be restarted”. For those of us who have not yet developed the folk beliefs required for dealing with the bit of information technology that is currently misbehaving.
Haha, " there's an app for that" is a red flag for me now. What is a security system doing when it won't work unless you have desktop and router and phone connected to China! Aha! did you say 'dark ones', it's all coming together now....but whose minions are whose...I think even THEY don't know!
Usually this kind of error is unexpected and displaying the error is a security issue since it might reveal sensitive information on the system. You can rest assured that a log is available for the devs. It is good to complain so it gets prioritized.
When working on my personal website, I initially opted to always display detailed error messages even to non-admin users. I heard it was supposed to be a bad idea, but I couldn’t think of a _concrete_ reason for why, so I tried it…
Not even a number to tell you what error there is. At least Google's silly "robot-fixing-itself" page has "403 - that's an error" or whatever written on it.
Many cybersecurity professionals are getting away from showing errors as hackers will use that information to understand what is happening behind the scenes when they fail to gain access
The proper solution is to provide a next step. Link back to previous page, customer support, or ideally a bug report page. Users don’t deserve a technical explanation, but they deserve a good experience.
My favorite is “Something went wrong. Try again later.” First of all, define “later”. 30 seconds, 4 hours, the next ice age? Second, trying again never ever ever ever works, so stop sayin that.
If they knew what went wrong and how to fix it they would have already executed the fix in the background and you wouldn't even be aware of the problem. Messages like this are for worse cases where they don't know and can't suggest anything.
No good way to deliver the bad news to everyone's liking
my last PC began stretching the BSODs past the actual screen so when it recovered I always had to check the system event logs to see what crashed...
oh, there was a QR code you could scan but I never did.
BSODs never used to force a full system restart.
It was just "this crashed, try to restart it?"
not that I could ever actually figure it out without googling it anyway because they print hex codes and shit instead of saying "yeah the kernel borked itself while you were doing something"
"Error code 532XC-Y6MF-w A freemasonmalletsharp register has cohabitated with the non-native file system's sublingual doodlwanger: outwinga 99999-632WAAAAAAAA"
Oh, no! Did it bwake again, uwu? Maybe if you prioritized some of that tech debt backlog into the work queue or let IT join the conversations and prioritize keeping their trained people resources, this would happen less and they'd care to elaborate on the errors? Tooo muhny wuuuuds, uwu?
Also, how can we have “AI” but still exist in a world of unknown errors like this? There is such a push to have AI everywhere making decisions and yet tech and software is anything but perfected.
If this from a website, it’s 404 redirect when the url/page fails. It’s most likely because a page has been deleted (with no proper redirect) or a there’s a faulty link. If the developer knew about either of the above you would not have landed on that.
Yes, the 404 page is created for when a link does not exist. Someone designed it and it loads automatically. My point was that a website on its own is not going to tell you what went wrong because it doesn’t know. It only knows to show the error message when an issue occurs.
From a dev POV, it's easier to just log the exception with all the details (which might contain a lot of trash) and instead of creating a detailed user-friendly message for each possible error only show the user the "Something went wrong" message.
I know, but a error message thats a little more descriptive would be nice (at least for Software, Websites are out of my realm, should have said that in my post.).
i was just having a conversation with my dad about why i would never be caught dead in a teleporter if they invent one in my lifetime. because no matter how smart our tech becomes, it always inevitably malfunctions and then we insist on programming everything to never tell us why it malfunctioned
i wouldnt use either. what's stopping the first type from glitching for a split second while i'm in the middle of stepping from one side to the other and sending a thin vertical slice of me through a split second slower than the rest? that's all it would take
This meme comes from a 2018 post by twitter user cherrikissu where they describe similar frustrations. I totally agree - so much computing has been abstracted away that users are taught to be helpless and disengaged from taking charge of their own devices and tools.
Very much like the red engine light that turns on in your car. Only the mechanic will actually know what the problem was after he debugged your car.
And the red light is much better than the engine on fire.
Ok but all your bug reports should contain detailed screenshots, system info and possibly a stack trace and not just « my google is not working ».
Sincerely, software developers.
Not everyone knows how to get a stack trace or even what one is. On windows for example, unless you're trained, trying to even open a core dump can be difficult. Same issue with event viewer.
I've been building and working with PCs for almost 25 years and aside from basic programming classes, I'm not a dev so even stack traces and core dumps are confusing.
That is professionalism. Part of professionalism is keeping your users calm. Nothing panics the average user of tech like an error message with an ominous amount of semicolons. Cute is for the consumer and it’s a necessary part of the design to keep people from freaking. Don’t knock accessibility.
As the user Id much rather know the exact error. Even if there's nothing I can do to fix it I like to atleast search for what it means. Not even knowing what the error is seems *more* panic inducing to me personally
tech interface is designed based on the average user of the device not the individual. The average user is not going to be tech literate enough to find a detailed error message comforting. The goal is accessibility so you need to keep that in mind when tech has features that feel dumb to you.
Nope. Within the 10 key tenets of UX is allow users to identify and recover from errors. It doesn't matter if you don't know what's happened, if the software at least puts something meaningful on the screen that information can be googled or passed on to a technician. Putting nothing gives nothing.
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I say this as a software dev, too, it doesn't take long to give detailed errors. If you need to use a catchall error, at least link to a faq or *something*
Like you say though, overcorrection, since you can still give a little bit of information or guidance which goes a long way for troubleshooting and bug reports
unless you're a bank or something like that maybe
Error # 738464736
Fine.
Error # 78545735778212238574647
No, break that crap up:
Error # 78545.73577.82122.38574.647
First one, codes up to 10 digits, we reflexively divide by 3 or 4 like phone numbers. Longer and it's hard to keep track.
Programmers provide messages that inform users of error type where issues types are common and likely. These cover all else.
It's helpful to report issues and context if problems persist. Programmers want to help.
JUST SHUT UP
AND
LET ME THINK!!!
Not Kalle? [sign out]
No, no, I AM Kalle and I STILL want to sign out!
Issues from this screen were easy to fix.
*scampers away, giggling mirthfully*
No but seriously there’s a runaway core meltdown in Reactor 7. You’ve got about 5 minutes to reach a safe distance of 40 kilometers.
Okay don’t be mad but it’s actually more like 3 minutes I got a little carried away scampering.
>It links to either:
*their knowledgebase homepage that, when searched in, contains none of the error code given
*the homepage of their website, because the KB has been depracated
*a 404 page
Trust me—if I could make that message useful I would, because then people wouldn’t call and complain and ask for help.
Why the UI ppl make it look like that I dunno, but the message ain’t changin’
Windows: “Oops. something went wrong”
Me: “Well, what went wrong?”
Windows: “Beats me”
In my day, you'd get a message like "Error 437" with no access to any list of error codes.
One vendor I worked with wanted $250 to explain just that single error code.
UX design: huh?... there's nothing here... wtf!?
Oh wait...
…and uncovered a bug in a dependency: https://github.com/google/go-github/issues/522.
If it's unhandled, you don't know what happened.
You could give false hope and say restart/refresh/do a dance, I guess?
No good way to deliver the bad news to everyone's liking
oh, there was a QR code you could scan but I never did.
BSODs never used to force a full system restart.
It was just "this crashed, try to restart it?"
(And then nothing for 20 minutes)
"No shit, Sherlock!"
Does that help?
An online service they could run could probably bin them into likely causes and troubleshooting steps
And obv I’m jk.
This is more likely a 5xx error - there is either an error directly in the code, or with some external service it depends on
It could be a typo, unhandled bad inputs from users, a server being down...
But as user, yeah, I hate it too. :D
- User ("Which error?")
- Developer
- Technical Service ("It just says Error" - Well, great!)
The first one? Maybe, after seeing someone else (plural) go. The latter? Nope. I need proof it's not a clone coming out. Even then unlikely.
And the red light is much better than the engine on fire.
Sincerely, software developers.
I've been building and working with PCs for almost 25 years and aside from basic programming classes, I'm not a dev so even stack traces and core dumps are confusing.