One Click from Disaster: Errorproofing Web Interface Designs

Just recently I wrote about how many rogue tweets are the fault of poor user interface design in Rogue Tweets: Where They Come From; How to Stop Them. In early 2010 I also wrote about this topic in When No Communication is Best: Speed Skating, Morphine Overdoses and the Wings Fall Off Button. But I see that the lessons of errorproof interface design are not being learned very quickly.

Many rogue tweets with serious consequences are caused by people tweeting a message to the wrong account. But if you look at excellent clients like Tweetdeck or web services like Hootsuite the choice of account is made by clicking on tiny icons that are very close together. It is only a matter of time before you send a message the wrong way. On the Twitter web page, too, many people confuse the post, search and direct message spaces. The usual solution for these errors is to fire the operator and the agency, but I don't much effort into improving interface design.

Another example appeared this month when I tried the new shortmail.com email service. This interesting new idea in email limits all messages to 500 characters and adds the potentially very useful feature of hosting public open letters on their site. The only problem is that to choose between a secret message and a public one there are two "radio" buttons, so it is very easy to click the wrong one. In some cases you are literally one click from disaster.

To be fair I have to add that when I discovered this risk and tweeted about it the people atShortmail responded immediately to the feedback and are working to improve this aspect of the design, but I am still surprised that these problems still arise.

We can learn many lessons from the world of aviation where errorproofing aircraft controls, operational procedures and maintenance operations is normal practice. Put simply, the interface design should make it easy to do things correctly and hard to make mistakes with serious consequences.

For example, in the case of the Shortmail public messages the difference between private and public messages should be more visible. I would prefer a highly visible change in color at the very least, but maybe also a safety net like a further question like "You asked to make this message public. Are you sure? In the case of social media clients like Tweetdeck and services like Hootsuite I would also like to see a more visible sign of which account you have chosen. Perhaps the active columns could change color or maybe they need large headers with the account name. You could even add safety net features like a warning when you are tweeting a message containing certain words to a client's account.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dear Best Regards: How to Start and End Your Emails

Image
Last year I wrote that to make your email more effective you should put meaningful content into the subject line, keep your messages short and consider other channels (see Three Timesaving Tips for Email ). I also wrote some guidelines about common culture problems when email crosses borders (see Three Non-Obvious Ways Culture Affects Email ). But there is one other question about international email that comes up regularly in workshops: how should you start and finish? Do I use "Dear", "Hi",or "Hello" to start with? What do I do if I don't know if the person I am writing to is a man or a woman? "What is the difference between "Best regards  and "Warm regards"? This is a question that puzzles many people and a while ago it stressed me, too. But the answers to these questions are perhaps easier than you imagine. DEAR MR/MRS WHATEVER . First of all, at the start of a mail you probably have some sort of salutation. How do you kn
Read more

Reverting to Emails: Confusion and the Indian English Language

Image
In workshops about global email many people focus on their issues communicating with colleagues in India. Partly this is related to some deeper cultural differences that lead to misunderstandings. But many problems are also caused by the different ways in which Indian people use English. There are some "English" words that you will probably only hear in India, like " stepney ", their word for a spare wheel. A hundred years ago this term was coined in the UK and was exported to India where it survived. Back home only a few antique vehicle enthusiasts have any idea what it means. There are also many English expressions that are peculiar to India, like "What is your good name?". But in both cases an English speaker from elsewhere would just see an unfamiliar expression and either ask what it means or google it. Most problems are caused by another kind of difference: where a standard US or UK English word is used but with a different meaning. Recently s
Read more

TED’s Magical Red Carpet

Image
Watch any TED(x) video or, better still, attend a live event, and you will probably notice that speakers stand in the middle of a circular red carpet. This choice is not just a question of aesthetics. That red carpet actually plays a key role in the success of the TED format. Having the speaker stand in the middle of a red carpet has several important consequences, leading the speaker to follow best practices that they might not be aware of. No script or notes . Since there is no table, lectern or other furniture within reach, the speaker cannot easily read from a script. This forces them to deliver their talk from memory, which is much more compelling because few people can read from a script and make it sound natural. And no matter how good you are at reading, the audience can see that your eyes are scanning the text and this breaks the magical connection with their minds. Encouraging people to speak from memory pushes them to make a much better talk than they might ot
Read more