Usable error message presentation in the World Wide Web: Do not show errors right away

Abstract

Online form validation can be performed in several ways. This article discusses two empirical studies with 77 and 90 participants, which have found evidence that the best way of presenting error messages is to provide the erroneous fields after users have completed the whole form. Immediate error feedback recommended by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) showed the worst performance in these studies. Where presented with immediate feedback, users often simply ignored the messages on the screen and continued completing the form as if nothing happened. These results lead to the postulation of the ''Modal Theory of Form Completion'': Users are in either ''Completion'' or ''Revision Mode'' when filling out online forms. These modes affect the users' way of interaction with the system: During Completion Mode the users' disposition to correct mistakes is reduced, therefore error messages are often ignored.

Error prevention in online forms: Use color instead of asterisks to mark required-fields

“…(2) Add additional visual elements if the user wants to leave the context and a required-field is still empty, in order to draw his attention to the correct location on the screen (Apple Inc., 2008). This supports the switch from completion mode to revision mode (Bargas-Avila et al, 2007) and is modeless (Cooper et al, 2007).…”

“…It is not known whether required-field markings support users during completion mode, revision mode or both. Bargas-Avila et al (2007) show that users tend to just overlook messages relevant for evaluation during completion mode. Form fill-in performance is not negatively influenced by this.…”

Mental models for web objects: Where do users expect to find the most frequent objects in online shops, news portals, and company web pages?

“…Designing web pages according to users' mental models speeds up orientation and enhances memorability of web object locations (Oulasvirta, 2004) and even influence user interactions on the website (Bargas-Avila et al, 2007). Users' age, web design ability, and gender influence Internet usage and perception thereof (Chevalier and Kicka, 2006;Fox, 2004;Madden, 2006;Hargittai and 2006).…”

The Same but Still Different: Forms in E-Government

“…For this purpose, many guidelines for the design of web forms can be applied [3,5,15,33]. The guidelines include design requirements considering the needs of increasingly aging users [21,23] or approaches to improve the accessibility of government forms for handicapped people [19].…”