I have been thinking about the paradigm of "commands" in programming, and whether softer/more 'polite' language could improve the machine UI
-
Bear with me. Do you see computers as intimidating, did people you know see them this way? Or are they dumb machines, tools, automata?
Separately but relatedly, how frustrating are error messages to beginners? Wouldn't you feel better w "sorry, please ask again differently?"
-
-
I never had an issue with commands and errors. I would probably find it more frustrating if the computer were "polite"
-
Aha yes. And you are a programmer?
-
I'm a finance prof. But I write code for research. Sometimes I'd like an empowering error message like "There's probably a way to do that."
-
That'd be great!
-
But saying you had no problem with commands personally doesn't mean that this wouldn't be worthwhile for someone else
-
Of course not! In fact many of my students have a fear of being told they are mistaken that I can scarcely understand.
-
As for "commands" though, there's no way around it - the computer really has no choice but to comply with the requests it understands. No?
End of conversation
New conversation -
-
-
Personally no, it would feel like one of those frustrating automated phone systems, "sorry, I didn't quite catch that..."
-
It's nice that a computer doesn't judge you or care either way if you make an error. Personally, I don't want it to pretend to care.
-
Yeah, me neither. I don't think I'm quite proposing "a computer that pretends to care" as much as "a language where you can be polite"
-
having a way to be polite to the computer vs having the computer be polite to you is such an interesting distinction to think about!
End of conversation
New conversation -
-
-
Maybe, but that’s not enough. I want more context: http://elm-lang.org/blog/compiler-errors-for-humans …
-
And I want to know that errors are OK and part of the process. Debugging should be encouraged as a tool for thought.
- 2 more replies
New conversation -
-
-
I really detest error messages blaming the user when it was the software's fault. For example PS3 crashes, upon reboot it admonishes user.
Thanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
-
-
-
I feel as though I am reading something I wrote in elementary school pre-Macintosh on programming. Amiga had endearing error messages. ^_^pic.twitter.com/Kl3XZS4O6b
Thanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
-
-
-
challenge as many responses suggest is making responses appropriate to the user, this is hard in several dimensions :) but a worthy goal.
Thanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
-
-
-
It's bc programmers, w historically bad UX exp, are left to write them, and they are (wrongly) deemed Minor in the grand scheme of things
Thanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
-
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.