Should Error Messages Apologize?

Re:Should Error Messages Apologize? by Stratoscope on Wednesday February 07, 2024 @04:02AM (#39286193)

One of the worst - I don't know if it's still there - was a Gmail message something like "Hooray! Your inbox is empty."

Well that's great if you worship Inbox Zero. But what about me?

Maybe I'm anxiously waiting for news on a family member's illness and hospitalization.

Maybe I'm waiting for my lawyer to get back to me on an important case.

It's not hard to imagine any number of circumstances where I would not say "hooray!" when I see my inbox is empty.

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Re:Should Error Messages Apologize? by agos on Wednesday February 07, 2024 @05:36AM (#39286856)

hooray! your sysadmin botched the migration and your mail is all gone!

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Re:Should Error Messages Apologize? by flatcakes on Wednesday February 07, 2024 @10:03AM (#39289398)

Same with slack when it congratulates you for catching up on messages. Each app/service assumes you are able to take the afternoon off if you happen to have 0 widgets in your widget list.

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Re:Should Error Messages Apologize? by arccy on Wednesday February 07, 2024 @04:31PM (#39294582)

it congratulates you for not having a pile of unknowns, not that you have nothing to do

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Re:Should Error Messages Apologize? by Too on Thursday February 08, 2024 @12:24AM (#39298561)

I believe the hooray is only presented that way in the spam folder.

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