Error messages: what to do next

Ask what the user is doing and what they fear, then decide what goes on screen. Visual tricks do not fix structural problems.

Task: Errors that say 'failed, try later'.

[Before you start, do three things]
1. Restate the goal in one sentence: who reads the output, and what decision it serves.
2. If I have not given you the following, ask me. Do not assume:
   - error types and triggers
   - what the user was doing
   - possible remedies
   - technical limits
3. Say how you plan to do it (at most 5 steps) and wait for my go-ahead.

[Go through each of these]
- each error says what happened, why, and what to do
- no error code as the only message
- separate retryable from not
- when to route to support and how

[Process]
1. State the single job of this screen
2. Answer the user's current worry first
3. Order by information priority and delete
4. Design empty, loading and error states
5. Give a minimal usability test

[Output]
One job, priority, three states, test plan.

[Do not]
- Never two primary actions on one screen
- Do not test with lorem ipsum
- Never ignore the empty state
- Never use colour as the only signal