Error messages are a natural part of life with an interactive device.  Users will inevitably make mistakes, and the software needs to handle those mistakes gracefully.

Unfortunately, the state of error messages on the web is pretty poor.  They leave users angry, confused and frustrated – all feelings you don’t want from someone interacting with your product.

So how do we make it better?  Here are four ways to improve your error messages, plus a bonus tip that might make error messages a thing of the past altogether:

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Like many in the interaction design community, my proposed session for Interaction 2011 was unfortunately rejected.  At first, I was pretty bummed about it, but after seeing the ranks of people I’m with (some of my heros in the community), I don’t feel as bad.  The conference will certainly be unreal.

Meanwhile, taking a cue from Whitney Hess (@whitneyhess) and David Farkas (@dafark8), I thought I’d post my submission here for comment.  This talk centers around something I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking and talking informally about, and I’m looking forward to giving it as a formal presentation at some point in the near future (Are you organizing a conference?  Like this idea for a talk?  Give me a shout.)

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My wife is a very well educated person when it comes to etiquette.  She’s read the Emily Post books, and her mom and grandmother have taught her a lot about how to act in certain situations.  Something her grandmother taught her comes up often when we’re talking about what to do in a certain situation.  Her grandmother’s advice is simply this:

“Do what brings the least amount of attention to yourself.”

For instance, if you are at a dinner party and drop a fork on the floor, don’t pick it up.  Picking it up calls unwanted and unnecessary attention to your mistake.  If you’re trying to decide what to wear, aim on the side of overdressed – people won’t notice that near as much as the other way around.

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This Labor Day weekend, we want you to be able to kick off the fall with easier web projects.  To help you do that, we’re discounting our eBook, 41 Questions to Ask Before You Start a Web Project, to only $4.95 (reg. $9.95) for the duration of the weekend!

In this eBook, we take you through the 41 questions to need to ask before you start on a web project, to make sure your project comes in on time, on budget, and successful.  If you work in any facet of the web industry, you’ll want to have this tucked away in your pocket when it comes to time meet with stakeholders, other contractors, or just as a review to make sure you’re thinking through all the critical parts of building a web project.

The eBook features five categories (Strategy, Marketing and Positioning, Design, Production, and Management) of questions with 7-11 questions in each section.  Also included are quick reference guides for bringing to meetings, to make sure you don’t miss out on getting the information you need to complete your project successfully.

This sale starts Friday, Sept. 3rd and only lasts until Monday, Sept. 6th. Don’t miss out on this deal!

Visit the Madera Labs store to read more about the eBook.

If you’re like most people, your web development process is sadly broken.  Sorry, but it’s true.  I’ve seen this same story play over so many times, it’s sickening.  The same backwards web development process, applied time after time, resulting in failed startups and disappointing results.

Here’s the problem: you put engineering first, and rarely (if ever) consider design to be an important part of the phase.  You think it, build it, then ship it.  At best, you build it, slap some aesthetics on it at the end, and kick it out the door.  I’ve got sobering news for you – if you follow this process, it’s broken, and it’s causing you to waste loads of cash.  Here’s why:

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