Do you think its user unfriendly to show error message in tooltips ?

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+2 Q:

Do you think its user unfriendly to show error message in tooltips ?

Hello,

when my user enters data validated as wrong a red circle with a white exclamation mark is shown in the right part of the textbox with the wrong data. The error message is only shown when the user hovers the textbox with wrong data.

Do you think that is a bad User experience ?

I could show the red error message text to the right side of the textboxes if there would still be space...

Yes, especially when it disappears too quickly and the user is left thinking wtf?

crowne 2010-05-02 22:11:37

the tooltip only disappears when the user moves the mouse outside the textbox.

msfanboy 2010-05-02 22:24:52

What I have done is to show the error in a pop-up, if the user mouses over, but if they click on the exclamation mark then have the popup not disappear when they move away from the error mark. That way the user can then do a copy and paste of the error message into an email, if they want to ask for help.

James Black 2010-05-02 22:12:39

The right answer ultimately depends upon your applications and its users. Consider the trade-off's:

If a user can figure out the validation errors when they see the error icon - along the lines of, "crap, I forgot to type in a name!" - then it sounds fine.
But, because it adds an extra step, it will be irritating if the errors will be difficult to figure out, and a user will need to click/hover on the icon to see a description before they can figure out how to correct them.

Justin Ethier 2010-05-02 22:14:35

your comment is nearly worth a solution as I saw you have edited your former comment which was a bit confusing.My concern is at the moment not the user experience rather the user interface when I will show the error labels right side of the empty textboxes because the error labels will make a big gap between my controls see that screenshot =>http://i40.tinypic.com/1zzn8cm.pngConcerning UX I would use the extra red labels + gap.Concerning UI I would use tooltips + red error circle.What would you do and why?

msfanboy 2010-05-04 09:26:02

Given the screenshot, I would use the tool-tips since the errors seems straightforward to fix once identified. Alternatively, if this was (is?) a WPF or Web application you could also dynamically insert the red error labels above the controls, to remove the need to have the big gap. But such an approach is probably not practical for Windows Forms since (IIRC) they use a fixed layout.

Justin Ethier 2010-05-04 14:29:33

Its a WPF app huh? who is still doing winforms nowadays ;-)Well I also thought about the idea to collapse/show the error labels when the error occurs. But this has ONE drawback for the User Interface explicitly with my layout => if too many errors occur and too many error labels are visible there will be no space vertically to display the labels...so I am not satisfied with that suggestion.OK I could collapse/show the error labels on right side and move the grids... hm but that could have some irritating side effect to the user haha.

msfanboy 2010-05-04 17:44:45

If you mean "hover" as in the mouse is used to move the cursor to hover over the field, then this may not be compatible with touch-based (non-mouse) interfaces like an iPhone/iPad. This may affect PCs users with touch-sensitive screens (e.g. HP TouchSmart PCs) in that they are forced to use their mouse. This may be mitigated somewhat if the error message is still shown when the field has focus, not just when the mouse hovers over.

Interestingly, Steve Jobs mentioned something about "hovers" and "rollovers" recently in his rationale about why iPhones/iPads won't support Flash:

http://www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughts-on-flash/

"...
Fifth, there’s Touch.

Flash was designed for PCs using mice, not for touch screens using fingers. For example, many Flash websites rely on “rollovers”, which pop up menus or other elements when the mouse arrow hovers over a specific spot. Apple’s revolutionary multi-touch interface doesn’t use a mouse, and there is no concept of a rollover. Most Flash websites will need to be rewritten to support touch-based devices. If developers need to rewrite their Flash websites, why not use modern technologies like HTML5, CSS and JavaScript? ..."

Bert F 2010-05-02 22:44:18

I forgot to mention it is a pc and windowy only desktop application and will not be converted to any other platform :)

msfanboy 2010-05-03 05:15:46

@msfanboy :-) No biggie. I just thought it worth a mention since we are all so used to the "mouse" paradigm when non-mouse interfaces are gaining ground - particularly as mobile programming and touch-screen monitors are gaining popularity.

Bert F 2010-05-03 16:25:29

ansaurus

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Do you think its user unfriendly to show error message in tooltips ?

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