| While sleeping through a lecture recently I | | | | amusing result when they do. For a large list |
| roused for just long enough to catch the | | | | go to and search for a specific type of |
| lecturer saying that "Error messages should | | | | software program that you use. There may be a |
| not try to be funny or amusing, they should | | | | few minutes of hidden entertainment to be |
| be clear and concise". This got me thinking | | | | found. |
| about the ever-elusive goal of user | | | | |
| friendliness. The concept has changed much | | | | Some of the greatest Easter Eggs came from |
| over the years with packages such as DOS | | | | Microsoft's software stable. Word 97 used to |
| going from being one of the easiest packages | | | | have a great little pinball game built in if |
| on the market, to now being complicated, | | | | you followed the correct steps, while Excel |
| convoluted, and ignored. I have begun to | | | | 97 had a fun little 'flight simulator' built |
| wonder why I am being taught that computers | | | | in. Unfortunately employees are apparently no |
| have to be boring to be user friendly. | | | | longer allowed to include these after some |
| | | | offensive messages were once included in a |
| The predictable nature of computers is quite | | | | program. |
| dull. I study computers and work with them, | | | | |
| so I'm used to experiencing a certain number | | | | Companies now require a very professional |
| of faults every now and then. I find these | | | | image and software costs quite a lot to |
| dull and depending on how close my current | | | | develop, so we're likely to see all the |
| deadline is, downright infuriating. On the | | | | amusing quirks removed from software that's |
| Internet side of things there is little quite | | | | released making it nothing but functional. I |
| as irritating as running into a 404 page when | | | | think that this is unfortunate. I agree that |
| you're trying to find something. However, the | | | | error messages need to be functional and let |
| other day I ran into a site that displayed | | | | the user know what's gone wrong but there's |
| random 404 Haikus and instead of being upset | | | | no harm in taking the edge off the fact that |
| at the fact that my time was being wasted, I | | | | they've possibly just lost a few hour's work |
| ended up typing in bizarre addresses just so | | | | by adding a little humor into the picture. As |
| that I could read all of the little poems. | | | | long as common sense is adhered to I don't |
| You can find a few lists of 404 Haikus from a | | | | really see why my grey pop up boxes all need |
| simple search in Google. Humorous website has | | | | to say exactly the same thing and be filled |
| an entertaining page when you get the address | | | | with data that's largely useless to me. Thank |
| wrong that screams "Four-oh-foured!" and | | | | you, I realize that the program has |
| displays a very entertaining message. They | | | | encountered an error. I assumed this when it |
| have another 404 page on their site that is a | | | | stopped working. Why not give me a reason to |
| hilarious cartoon you can watch. | | | | actually read error messages instead of |
| | | | having to dismiss them as soon as they |
| In terms of applications, games occasionally | | | | appear? |
| have amusing error messages such as the one | | | | |
| in 'Escape From Monkey Island' with the title | | | | I think the idea of user friendliness has |
| "Congratulations, you have found a bug!" and | | | | become too clinical and precise. We have |
| concludes with "...get back to work". | | | | rules and structures defining what is or |
| There's naturally a bit more leniency and | | | | isn't helpful. We put fancy, bubbly skins on |
| tendency towards entertaining secrets in | | | | the dull and mundane and think that we're |
| games. Easter Eggs used to be a lot more | | | | making it all more interesting. Just |
| common in software applications. These are | | | | occasionally I'd like my computer to pop up |
| hidden sections of code that the average user | | | | and say "Human Error. Please replace user and |
| will never activate but which provide an | | | | try again. |