> This session is about to end due to inactivity. For security reasons it will be automatically signed out in approximately 1 minute. You may choose "Stay signed in" to continue or sign out if you're done.
Note that I don't mind the you in the last sentence, as it is truly referring to the personal me.
Yes
No, thank you
EDIT: also, being bothered by it is maybe more the case for people who understand computers (at least somewhat).
However the phone is never speaking to you. It’s the designer(s).
I’m not sure why the illusion of the technology speaking to us is so important. I guess because humans anthropomorphise everything.
Slightly ironic that this makes us loose sight of the fact that we are actually communicating with humans.
In this whole conversation it seems this point is lost.
We have everything under control, you do not need to know. Are you happy with the experience we are providing you?
– Yes
– Yes, thank you> Be clear. Choose words that are easily understood and convey the right thing. Check each word to be sure it needs to be there.
title: Your session is about to end.
text below: You’ve been inactive for a while. For your security, we’ll automatically sign you out in approximately 1 minute.
action button: Stay signed in
action button: Sign out
Maybe the text could be reworded a bit. “Automatically” is redundant, everyone knows websites are automatic. “About” can do the work of “approximately”. I like how friendly they are when telling you the time limit but it may not be necessary to give a time at all. So you end up with: “For your security, we sign out sessions that have been inactive for a while.”
The technical meaning is very similar to the non-technical one.
It's certainly not an issue for returning users. But I don't know how to improve it for first time visitors either ("logout" has the same problem).
Hell, if one button says "stay signed in" and the other says "log out", I don't even know if I'd go with a message that long. Just "are you still there" may be enough, with a redirect to the "why did I get logged out" page if you let the timer lapse.
On the other hand, I want error messages to be as descriptive as possible, with a short summary for normal users perhaps. Operational messages may be short and sweet, but if I need to solve a problem, I've had it with the "oopsie whoopsie we made a mistakey wakey" messages apps produce these days.
Either the broad question is patronizing, suggesting the program makes decisions over my head without even informing me what about, or it is superfluous since the explanation+action is all I want or need.
I really do not enjoy programs behaving like they have intelligence by being vague or leading, but really never are, since their logic only covers the common case.
[ dialog: To help keep your account secure, you will be signed out in approximately 1 minute. ]
[ button: Keep me signed in] [ button: Sign out ]
[ maybe a link: Why am I seeing this? ]
>"Your session is about to end. You've been inactive for a while. For your security, we'll automatically sign you out in approximately 1 minute. You may choose "Stay signed in" to continue or sign out if you're done."
No stress put on the user with a timer (e.g. "You will be logged out in 3...2...1"). Instead, they simply state the facts in a calm way. "For your security" tells me why they're logging me out. Perfect voice for a bank. I want that level of simplicity in all my financial apps.