What's an easy-to-understand error message for situations where the error is a system error (out of the control of the user and cannot be fixed by the user)?
Here's a few that I came up with, but it's hard to tell what works well:
A system error has occurred and the action you have requested could not be completed. (too vague, does not let the user know they cannot fix it).
There was a problem (action) your (object) and it is beyond your control. (makes the user feel helpless).
Any suggestions as to the best way to word such a message?
Answer
MailChimp has some advice on writing a failure message in their Voice & Tone guide.
- Be straightforward. Explain what's going on right away. Be calm.
- Don’t use exclamation points or alarming words like “alert” or "immediately."
- Be serious. Don’t joke around with frustrated people.
- If possible, offer a solution or next step.
They included a generic, example error message, but it really depends on what went wrong (or how much the system knows about what went wrong) and whether a next step can be offered to the user (e.g., restart the app, browse the archives, request an email when we're back online).
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