PDF Writer is Adobes program to create PDF Documents. When converting a document I encountered the cryptic error message below. The Adobe PDF Writer doesnt give me any information on how to recover from the error, nor what which effect it has on my document.
Figure 1: Adobe PDF Writer error message
I go to my mechanic to have my car checked up. He tells me in English that there is a severe problem with it. When I ask him what the problem is, he starts mumbling in Russian - which I don't understand - and looks very, very serious. I leave the garage with my car - not knowing what's wrong with it and with a very nervous feeling.
Software is bound to err, just as humans are. Software malfunctions cannot be avoided. However, if you display an error message it must mean something to the user, not just be random debugging information. An error will leave the user anxious and discouraged and so it is important to explain how to recover from it and how to avoid it in the future (if possible).
Figure 2: Newsgator Outlook edition 2.0 (an RSS news feed client)
Figure 3: Error caused by unknown program: The error suddenly popped up with no clue as to which program or which action caused it.
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