Error patterns

By: Albert Kolgeci

Pattern Name
Error Pattern

Mostly error patterns occur when entering a wrong information while filling up a form , loging in to email account , purchasing something,or just when searching something.

Problems
When an error occures most users whant to solve the problem in the easiest way possible,so most of the sites have to think about it on how to apply error patterns.

Context
Errors occur when an information it is not correct or not valid, therefore depending from a problem error patterns come up as pop ups or just sends you back in the page where the error has occurred , in most cases errors are written in red color .

I have searched a different sites and looked for different error patterns, when entering a hotmail account I have made a mistake with my password, then another screen came up saying that an error has been made with my password or my email account, the letters of the error information were written in red, but the information that was given didn’t tell me where the problem is ,this could be for security reasons, it makes it harder for someone else to use my account and find where the exact error its been made,in some other sites for instance the Nat west bank site, when an error occures, automatically sends you back to the page where the error was made and gives you an exact information on how to correct it.

In some cases if there are more than one errors made, the error screen asks us to correct the mistakes step by step(which is a bit annoying)instead of giving us the full page with the errors that were made.
Sometimes errors occur while applying for a credit card or just purchasing a payment, what I have learned is that, when entering personal details (filling up a form)if some of the spaces are left blank, automatically an error information pops up telling us to fill the blank spaces that were left , by giving the exact information on error, enables us to find and solve the problem.

Resultant context
Due to my findings, most of the sites should contain an error patterns ,this will enable users to identify the problem and solve it without any complications.