Day 3 of the UX writing challenge involves writing a sign in error message for a user who entered the wrong email address for their account.
Read on to see how I solved this challenge.
📍 The Challenge
Scenario: The user entered the wrong email address to sign in to their account
Challenge: Tell the user to enter the right email.
40 characters max
In this scenario, a user is trying to sign in to their account through their email address. It would be helpful to have more context about the type of website or app the user is trying to access, but no matter what it is, not being able to sign in is a frustrating experience.
When I have trouble signing in, I reset my password if necessary or I look for an alternative app. Resetting a password involves a number of steps for security reasons, but this all adds friction to the user experience.
My goal for this challenge is to communicate the error message effectively, so that the user does not have to take unnecessary steps to access their account.
💭 What makes an effective error message?
Error messages can either make or break an experience. How many times have you seen an error message that didn’t make sense or wasn’t helpful at all?
An effective error message communicates what went wrong and why, and provides insight on how to fix the error. The tone of an error message is important as well — it’s not the right time to use humor or negative phrasing. Error messages should focus on the problem and guide users towards a solution.
👩🏻💻 Design Explorations
I experimented with different ideas for the error message. It was challenging to provide as much information while staying within the character limit. I kept the tone neutral and focused on the problem, not passing the blame on the user or other factors.
⚡ Final Design
My final design conveys that the email entered is not associated with an account. I decided not to use “Please enter a valid email” because the email might have been valid, but just doesn’t belong to an account.
“Account not found” conveys the error that the email address is not associated with an account, while “Try another email” tells the user how to solve the problem.
💡 Conclusion
I’ve heard from content designers that error messages are notoriously hard to write. Error messages are short, yet impact a user’s experience.
I understand now that it’s definitely challenging to provide as much context while staying within the limitations. Crafting an effective error message requires empathy, clear communication, and collaboration with product designers and developers.
That’s all for Day 3! What do you think of error messages? As always, I’m open to feedback so please feel free to leave a comment or reach out to me. :)
