Displaying Messages To Users -- "Command" or "Polite"?
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Hi, I'm just wondering if there are any rules to follow when displaying messages to users. Are there any particular circumstances in which you should "command" the user to do something rather than "ask" them to do something? For example, say you have a login form. The user must of course provide a username and password. If the user does not provide a password should you say "Provide a password and try again" or "Please specify a password and try again"? I ask this question because I watched a video on YouTube involving ASP .NET Web Form user input validation techniques. The "instructor" said he did not want to command the user to do something but rather inform them politely that they must do it. But I see in some software (and on various products' packaging, too) a mix of "commands" and "polite requests". Some may say "You must provide search terms before you can continue" and then later on something like "Please fill in the required fields and try again". I hope this makes sense. Hehe. I'm never great with explanations and creating/using examples. But I try. :-P Thanks in advance!
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Hi, I'm just wondering if there are any rules to follow when displaying messages to users. Are there any particular circumstances in which you should "command" the user to do something rather than "ask" them to do something? For example, say you have a login form. The user must of course provide a username and password. If the user does not provide a password should you say "Provide a password and try again" or "Please specify a password and try again"? I ask this question because I watched a video on YouTube involving ASP .NET Web Form user input validation techniques. The "instructor" said he did not want to command the user to do something but rather inform them politely that they must do it. But I see in some software (and on various products' packaging, too) a mix of "commands" and "polite requests". Some may say "You must provide search terms before you can continue" and then later on something like "Please fill in the required fields and try again". I hope this makes sense. Hehe. I'm never great with explanations and creating/using examples. But I try. :-P Thanks in advance!
As a general rule always be polite and ask. However this depends on your audience and the subject matter. If you are working on a corporate production system, calling your user an idiot is generally frowned upon, but I have seen game and entertainment systems where this is common. Do your users have a sense of humour? if so you can be a little more relaxed.
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity RAH
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As a general rule always be polite and ask. However this depends on your audience and the subject matter. If you are working on a corporate production system, calling your user an idiot is generally frowned upon, but I have seen game and entertainment systems where this is common. Do your users have a sense of humour? if so you can be a little more relaxed.
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity RAH
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Hi, I'm just wondering if there are any rules to follow when displaying messages to users. Are there any particular circumstances in which you should "command" the user to do something rather than "ask" them to do something? For example, say you have a login form. The user must of course provide a username and password. If the user does not provide a password should you say "Provide a password and try again" or "Please specify a password and try again"? I ask this question because I watched a video on YouTube involving ASP .NET Web Form user input validation techniques. The "instructor" said he did not want to command the user to do something but rather inform them politely that they must do it. But I see in some software (and on various products' packaging, too) a mix of "commands" and "polite requests". Some may say "You must provide search terms before you can continue" and then later on something like "Please fill in the required fields and try again". I hope this makes sense. Hehe. I'm never great with explanations and creating/using examples. But I try. :-P Thanks in advance!
I'm always polite :cool: I ask them to please provide a valid entry, if they don't, tough - they just don't get what they want :-D But yes, like Mycroft Holmes mentioned, it's dependent on your audience: would be different for games etc.
modified on Sunday, July 25, 2010 6:15 PM
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Hi, I'm just wondering if there are any rules to follow when displaying messages to users. Are there any particular circumstances in which you should "command" the user to do something rather than "ask" them to do something? For example, say you have a login form. The user must of course provide a username and password. If the user does not provide a password should you say "Provide a password and try again" or "Please specify a password and try again"? I ask this question because I watched a video on YouTube involving ASP .NET Web Form user input validation techniques. The "instructor" said he did not want to command the user to do something but rather inform them politely that they must do it. But I see in some software (and on various products' packaging, too) a mix of "commands" and "polite requests". Some may say "You must provide search terms before you can continue" and then later on something like "Please fill in the required fields and try again". I hope this makes sense. Hehe. I'm never great with explanations and creating/using examples. But I try. :-P Thanks in advance!
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Hi, I'm just wondering if there are any rules to follow when displaying messages to users. Are there any particular circumstances in which you should "command" the user to do something rather than "ask" them to do something? For example, say you have a login form. The user must of course provide a username and password. If the user does not provide a password should you say "Provide a password and try again" or "Please specify a password and try again"? I ask this question because I watched a video on YouTube involving ASP .NET Web Form user input validation techniques. The "instructor" said he did not want to command the user to do something but rather inform them politely that they must do it. But I see in some software (and on various products' packaging, too) a mix of "commands" and "polite requests". Some may say "You must provide search terms before you can continue" and then later on something like "Please fill in the required fields and try again". I hope this makes sense. Hehe. I'm never great with explanations and creating/using examples. But I try. :-P Thanks in advance!
Maybe you gave poor examples; perhaps the user has decided not to proceed and asking him to "try again" is also somewhat rude. I would prefer to simply make a statement "Login failed". Let's say you stumble across a login page (maybe it's a members-only ;) area of a website), consider the options: 0) "Enter your username and password" -- perhaps a bit commanding 1) "Please log in to continue to our members-only area" -- requesting, but maybe I don't want to do that (I don't) 2) "Access to our members-only area requires a current username and password" -- a simple statement, it doesn't tell, it doesn't ask
