Chris Hall Blog #8

Right off the bat the application knows that I have not created anything forms and displays a message suggesting that I go and make some. This is as Hoekman puts it “a clear and simple message” which is not cryptic and even offers a link (the whole message is a link) to go and start creating. If you click on one of the tabs toward the top of the page (Repots in this case) the application navigates to that page, then another error message appears telling me that I need a form in order to generate a report. The error message is accompanied by a little comment or saying ("Holy carts before horses” in this case) which also fit into Hoekman’s advice about error messages with says to “Put a positive spin on and otherwise negative situation.” This message does this well (it does not blame the user) but like most things, it could be done better.

Once you finish editing a form and you have saved it the application gives you a set of options to pick, continue editing, setup email, or return to form manager. At the top of this message is the phrase “Awesome. Your form is saved” which lets the user know everything went as planned and makes them feel good about it. This is another example of putting a positive spin on and otherwise negative situation. The application also offers users help in two ways, first by having little (?) links beside boxes which allow the user to access a detailed, yet simple explanation about what that box is intended for. Making this a link makes it so that the user does not have to read any explanations unless they ask for one (by clicking on the link). The second way is with their help page. This application seems to have taken Hoekman’s advice about making full use of your help page to heart. Finally, if you close the page (like on accident) without saving the changes you have made the application kindly generates a pop up message saying “YOU HAVEN'T SAVED YET AND YOU'LL BE ABANDONING YOUR CHANGES.” This is nice for people who accidently click the close button.