prepare to read fast v1.2 FAILURE.QualityFrog.com Now that I have your attention,

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v1.2 FAILURE.QualityFrog.com

Now that I have your attention,


You’re testing…

And an error message appears



Did you expect it?

Or are you surprised?


How does it make you feel?


What do you do?


Not ready reading drive AAbort, Retry, Ignore, Fail?


Continue to the next test step…



Report a bug…



Resolve unknown conflict…



Find a file…



Eliminate something…



Request permission…



Try again…



Try something new…



Seek help…



Set a reference to an instance…



lick OK…C


lick OK…



Save…



Enter a multiple of |ECL0…



Exit…



Reconnect…



Declare success…



Assign blame…



Laugh…



Restart…



Guess…



Gasp…



Request a raise…



Swear…



So…


What do you do when you encounter an

error?


While you think about that, let me tell you what I do.


Oh, who am I?


I am Ben Simo

[email protected]


I use software

[email protected]


I test software

[email protected]


I question software

[email protected]

www.QuestioningSoftware.com

http://www.questioningsoftware.com/



I code software

[email protected]





I code software that helps test software

[email protected]





I talk about software

[email protected]





I write about software

[email protected]





I think about software

[email protected]





I like software


I like softwarethat serves people


I like softwarethat helps people


I dislike bad software


I dislike bad softwarethat frustrates people


I dislike bad softwarethat confuses people


I dislike bad softwarethat angers people


I dislike bad softwarethat discombobulates people


I sometimes like big words that discombobulate people


But only for a moment


Discombobulate means toemotionally confuse


Discombobulate means tofrustrate


Discombobulate means tobewilder


Discombobulate means toconfound


Discombobulate means tobefuddle


Discombobulate means toperplex


Too many error messages discombobulate people


Error messages should help people,

not confuse them


You see,It’s not about the software


It’s about the people!


Testers often fail to test the error messages


They fail to think about how they affect people


So what do I do when I encounter error messages?


I test them


I test themusing the FAILURE

mnemonic


A mnemonicis a device

that aids memory recall


The FAILURE mnemonic is an acronym that helps me

recallguideword heuristics


Guideword heuristics are words

that guide thinkingthrough a problem


The FAILURE mnemonic’sguideword heuristics help

me think about testing error messages


The F reminds me to think about

Functional aspects of the errorFAILURE


I ask Functional questions like

Does the error detection

function as expected?



Does the error handlingfunction as expected?



Does the error reporting




Does the error dialog, window, or page




Does the software recover from the error?



Was there really an error?



Are other errors like this reported?



Do dialog buttons work?



Is error message information accurate?



Is it functional?


Only I don’t stop at Functional


A Functional error messageis not necessarily

an Appropriate error message


The A reminds me to askif the error reporting is

AppropriateFAILURE


I ask Appropriate questions like

Is the error reporting timely?



Is the error reporting accurate?



Are UI messages free of inappropriate technical

detail?



Is there a better way to handle or report the

error?



Is the error user friendly?



Are errors detected as early in the user

workflow as possible?



Are system resource problems detected

while there is still time to remedy the problem?



Is the situation communicated appropriately

for the intended audience?



Is a user allowed to waste time and effort only to be told that

their work cannot be applied?


The I reminds me to askabout the Impact of the error

FAILURE


I ask Impact questions like

Is the impact communicated?



Is the impact communicated

to the user?



Is the impact communicated

to others?



Will the user understand the impact?



Is any impact to the user’s data

communicated?



Does the message contain too much

information?



Was a transaction only partially completed?


The L reminds me to askabout the error Log

FAILURE


I ask Log questions like

Should the error be logged for support?



Should the error be logged for system administrators?



Should the error be logged for developers?



Should the error be logged for technical

investigation?



Will log information be available if the user

waits to report a problem?



Are log messages standardized to support automated information

mining?



Can I grep this error?



Do logs contain enough information?



Do logs contain useless information?



Is this an error that should not be logged?



Is there too much logging?



Does excessive logging impact performance?



Does excessive logging impact disk space?



Does the logging help or complicate error

investigation?


The U reminds me to think about

the User InterfaceFAILURE


I ask UI questions like

Is the error reported to the user?



Does this error need to be reported to the

user?



What user activitycaused the failure?



What user activitycaused the failure?

Is this communicated to the user?



Who is the user?



Are UI messages worded for the

intended audience?



Is this message consistent with the

desired look and feel?



Is the UI reporting consistent with

reporting for other errors?



Is the UI reporting efficient?



Does the user need to click away excessive

dialogs?



Is this the best way to communicate the error?



Could this error be handled without

involving the user?


The R helps me think abouterror Recovery

FAILURE


I ask Recovery questions like

Is the user told how to recover from the

impact of the error?



Does the user need to contact support?



Is support contact information provided?



Does support know how to fix the problem?



Does the software guide the user through the recovery process?



Or is the user left to figure it out on their

own?


The E leads me to think about

the Emotions of usersFAILURE


I ask Emotions questions like

What emotions are likely to be raised by the error message?



Does the error reporting evoke the

desired user emotions?



Does this message enhance

user frustration?



Does this message quiet

user frustration?



Does this message encourage users to use

some other product?



Does this message cause confusion?


Asking these types of questions can help turn FAILURE into success


The next time you encounter an error

message



messageTest it!



messageQuestion it!


Try the FAILURE mnemonic

Functional

Appropriate

Impact

Log

UI

Recovery

Emotions


And let me know

how it works for you

Functional

Appropriate

Impact

Log

UI

Recovery

Emotions

v1.2 Copyright © 2007 Quality Frog

Ben Simo

[email protected]

http://FAILURE.QualityFrog.com

Functional

Appropriate

Impact

Log

UI

Recovery

Emotions

http://failure.qualityfrog.com/

http://failure.qualityfrog.com/

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prepare to read fast v1.2 FAILURE.QualityFrog.com Now that I have your attention,