Error messages: the neglected area of the man/machine interface

  • Authors:
  • P. J. Brown

  • Affiliations:
  • Univ. of Kent, Canterbury, England

  • Venue:
  • Communications of the ACM
  • Year:
  • 1983

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Abstract

The quality of error messages produced by software used in the field was tested by a simple experiment; it was found to be far from adequate. The results of the experiment are analyzed, and some responses which tend to collaborate the original findings are discussed. Finally, some suggestions are made for improving the quality of error messages.