🍴IWITOT Vol. 8 - Error Messages

I’ll be the first to admit, I hate a minor inconvenience.

The phrase itself characterizes it as “small” but when you’re in the middle of something, it feels big.

So, when I got this error from bit.ly, I whispered a “What the (Fill in the blank)” under my breath.

At first I gave the refresh button a workout hoping the 100th time doing it would result in a fix, but no luck.

So, I stared.

Then, I realized…

This error message wasn’t so bad and a good candidate for this week’s I Wish I Thought of That Thursday feature.

Here’s why I liked it.

1. I liked the graphic. That’s a classic illustration for centering yourself, taking a deep breath and calming down. Something I needed to do in that moment.

2. The headline was simple and generic, but for something like this, you don’t need anything complicated.

3. The content. I loved it because it explained WHY the site was down. They could have left it with a “Something went wrong” prompt, but they explained the problem instead. They owned up to it, acknowledged the users’ frustration, talked about a solution, and gave users an outlet to know when the problem was solved.

I know it’s a little weird I chose an error message as the feature, but I think it’s a good reminder that our interactions with our customers and target audience go beyond the obvious like social, email, blogs, etc.

Something as seemingly “random” as an error message is another opportunity to connect with and strengthen your credibility if done correctly.

I feel hyper-focused on layouts lately lol (see this post for reference).

My only suggestion would have been to center the graphic on the screen.

It doesn’t detract from the message, but it was something that caught my eye.

Maybe that was the point?