Alerts (this incudes Warnings, Error Messages, Questions) are modal dialogs which contain the have to contain the following Elements:

• Alert Message Text

• Informative Text (this includes additional Information),

• Button(s) for addressing the alert, and

• The correct icon type to indicate the severity of the Alert

An alert has to:

• Clearly indicate that something has gone wrong
  Describe the problem clearly and briefly.
  Reason: Users want to quickly know what went wrong and how to fix it. Be brief.

• Be polite and do not blame the users
  Remember that people are upset when things are going wrong. Treat users with respect.
  Reason: At this critical juncture you can make or break your future relationship with them.

• Give advice on how to fix the problem

• Use the language your Target group understands
  Stay away from obscure error codes, abbreviations, technical jargon, or internal marketing terms unfamiliar to users. Use simple English.

• Don’t make customers guess
  Explicitly tell them how to prevent repeating an error.

Usage of Icons

Each Alert has to provide an icon. The icon gives information about the type of alert and its severity level of the alert.

Icon	Severity
	Question	Use this icon for alerts that ask a question. Use question as in normal flow of operation.
	Information	Use this icon for alerts that provide an information. Use this in normal flow of operation.
	Warning	Display this icon to notify that an unusual error occurred
	Critical	Display this icon to notify that an critical error occurred

Example:

The examples below shall give an idea of a warning which got improved from a poorly written alert to a good one:

Icon	Alert Text	OK?
	Error saving the document ABC: General Error. General Input/Output error	No Too technical. Language used is for Programmers but not for users. Wrong type of icon has been selected.
	The document ABC could not be saved, because it is read-only.	No Got improved, but provides no hint to get the problem solved. Wrong type of icon has been selected; severity much too high.
	The document ABC could not be saved, because it is read-only. Try to remove the read-only property, or select “Save As...” from the “File” menu.	Yes The text is well formulated, gives users a hint how to get this problem fixed. The severity, indicated by the icon, is correct.

Document History:

Revision	Change	Initials	Date
1	First draft created	CJ	July 23, 2005
2	Updated after inspection of p3386 team	CJ	October 5, 2005
3	Revised for OpenOffice.org usage	CJ	December 22, 2005