Fatal error message in a terminal window
While I understand that command line interface programmers don’t feel like they need to adhere to the same rules as UI designers, I think it would be best if they reconsidered.
Under no circumstances is it necessary for an error message to tell me something was “fatal”. It evokes feelings of panic and makes me feel as though I’ve done something irreversible. In the example above I simply called “git pull” (grab the latest code from the repository) on the wrong folder. Because that folder wasn’t tracked by git, it doesn’t do anything… it just exits.
Consider using another response, such as “Not a git repository, nothing has been pulled. Are you in the right directory?”. I don’t need to hear about what process was killed or how it died, I just want to know what happened and what I should do about it.
Thanks 
One of the interesting consequences of working at a start up is that we all get to wear many hats. My role at EchoUser has always been part designer, user researcher, programmer and software development manager.
I thought it might be nice to share some of the blogs and sites that I frequent lately that help keep me somewhat sharp in these various disciplines:
Design / User Research
Software Developer / Manager
Feel free to add suggestions to my list in the comments!
It’s 7:00 a.m. and I am crammed into a bus packed with commuters. As I try gingerly to prevent my face from rubbing against the armpit of an adjacent passenger, I awkwardly suspend my clipboard over my head and try to take notes on every aspect of the experience. You see, while other passengers are traveling to their offices on this bus, for today the bus IS my office.
So why might you ask am I here? I’m working on my first project as a newly hired User Experience Researcher/Designer at EchoUser, and I am meeting my 3rd transportation study participant for BART and AC Transit.
Read more…