Link to Slides
Error Recovery
Root cause analysis - five whys Error recovery Cognitive load and reducing cognitive load
Resources
“Design an Error Message” (20 mins)
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Show students screenshots of real bad error dialogs (e.g., “Unknown Error 0x80240438”).
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Ask them to redesign the message to be:
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Polite & non-blaming
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Clear about the problem
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Actionable with next steps
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- Can all errors be prevented? What should we do when it happens?
- What’s the balance between prevention and recovery?
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How do cultural/contextual factors affect error handling (e.g., language, technical literacy)?
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Errors are inevitable, but design can reduce their frequency and severity.
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Prevention, detection, and recovery are all key.
- Good error handling builds trust and supports user performance.