When you think of transparency, it’s typical to think of how a company communicates with it’s users. What may come as a surprise is the impact the actual users can have on transparency, and how the consumer can be the actual tipping point for your next sale.We’re talking of course about User Reviews: Systems that allow peers to share their personal experiences, likes and dislikes over particular products and services. These user created reviews are unbiased, uncensored, and build a new layer of trust and transparency that couldn’t exist if it weren’t for the user.Building TrustIn the digital age, marketing and communication is much more than well-crafted messages for the consumer to digest. User Interaction is vital, and user reviews are key components to building trust and the success of some companies.According to a recent report from the Nielsen Company, 90% of users trust recommendations from people they know, while 70% trust consumer opinions posted online. In comparison, 61% of participants agreed that they trusted ads on tv, while online 33% reported that they trust online banner advertisements.It’s clear that before there is a connection between a user and a brand, the best way to build trust may be through other users. What better way to start building that trust than letting your users prove your authenticity and commitment to transparency for you?Increased SalesIt’s been shown that user reviews increase sales, increase the average value of each order, improve customer loyalty, and even increase traffic.One big concern that slows companies from employing user review systems is the fear of negative things people may say about their products. It’s true that by integrating peer reviews you have very little control over what people actually say about your product. On the other hand, even negative reviews don’t seem to be harming sales elsewhere online. AlpacaDirect.com considers user reviews key to the long-term success of their companyActually, according to Jim Hobart, Co-Founder of AlpacaDirect.com, suggests the opposite happens. After hiring PowerReviews to handle user reviews, AlpacaDirect saw a 23% increase in sales for items with customer reviews (even items with lower ratings).The truth is, users tend to be much quicker in trusting other users over brands. Once trust has been established between a brand and a user, the situation changes, but prior to that a user review is a stepping stone that many people have come to expect in new purchases.For Jim Hobart, “Reviews help build that initial trust … They are key to the long-term success of our company.”If that’s not enough to ease the mind, it is also worth noting that most consumers are compelled to leave reviews by a sense of goodwill. In fact, according to a market research from Keller Fay Group 87% of consumers tend to write reviews when they have something positive to say.Increased TrafficPeer reviews enable another positive effect for online shops: Extra traffic from search engines. While users probably never consider how their reviews may boost traffic, content they leave behind in a review might be the answer to another users question.For example, someone in the market for a new HDTV might be concerned if a particular model they heard of has excessive glare. Asking the search engine about possible glare issues may actually result in a product listing from Amazon or another online shop. If the user is satisfied with the answer there, they may choose not to leave the site and simply make the purchase then and there. One users review may contain the answer to another consumers question.A consumer may also simply search for “—– reviews”, which in many cases will bring up product listings that have user contributed reviews.The point here is that user reviews help users communicate useful information between each other, and as a result have a more fulfilling experience. Their needs are addressed by other users (with an online shop acting as an enabler), and they can find unbiased information quicker than reading several scattered reviews around the web.Review SoftwareAnother deterrent from using peer reviews is the price tag for some review services… some starting for around $2,000 per month. There are also hundreds of free scripts that are easy to install for cheap and easy solutions.There are affordable alternatives however, such as PowerReviews which enable smaller merchants to build experiences with peer reviews.Savvy developers of course can always work on crafting their own clever experiences for users.Reviews Create a ConversationAllowing people to speak their mind on particular products does more than communicate with other consumers… it creates a silent dialogue between the user and the company selling the product. If there are lots of negative reviews on a product, the owner of an online shop can respond more effectively by addressing the problem, or even remove products that are unwanted. Bazaarblog shows that reviews give another venue for brands to listen to their consumers, showing that for products rated 2/5 stars or below, 70% of the products are pulled from the site. Listening to your users is important, and responding to feedback like user reviews is a fantastic way to show your users you care.Companies that don’t adopt to the new standards in the consumer realm will be swallowed by the new digital experience. Users no longer rely on 30-second tv spots and ads in magazines to tell them what to buy: They’ve grown up, and have a higher degree of control in the marketplace.Consumers don’t just buy products anymore… they sell them too. A company that humbles itself and patiently listens to users complaints will have the upper hand in addressing problems, and providing better solutions (and a better experience) for it’s users.

When you visit a website of a business do you ever wonder who is behind that business? Being transparent online and in business has a plethora of benefits. Users gain trust and have the ability to see the human side of the business. The effects are incredible, from increasing sales to finding like minded clients.Showing that your business is human can easily make you a stronger company. The benefits go two ways though. Not only is it great for your company but it is also beneficial for the user in may ways. In this post I will detail many examples of transparency around the web. As we go through each example I will explain why it is positive, how they have done it, and what it creates to benefit the user experience.Build InternetSam and Zach of Build Internet lay it on the line. As soon as you open Build Internet’s homepage you see the two fellows behind the website greeting you. Click on their photo and be taken to the about page. This page has a larger version of their photo and ways to contact them on a personal level through twitter. This creates a personal connection between the viewer and the owners of the website. Comcast CaresTalk about a marketing and customer service visionary. Comcast’s early adoption of twitter has been followed by many corporations. The difference that is still clear? Having a human face attached. Twitter is a personal social marketing tool. Therefore, when a company hops on board, why should they not also be personal? Freelance FolderFreelance Folder has found an awesome use for their footer. Down there at the bottom of the page they give the bio of the four main authors of the blog. This puts us in touch with the voices of what readers see day in and day out in a new way. Twitter Blog VimeoVimeo brings us a very fun and creative About page. It actually inspires me to take a fun photo with the UXB crew and update our own about page. However, the fun photo of the staff brings a level of fun that people may not perceive when thinking of Vimeo. This presentation gives us a feeling that Vimeo folks enjoy what they do and have a life outside of their product. Smashing MagazineThe new Smashing Magazine design is hot… but I digress. I included SM here because of the addition of their illustration in the footer. These folks are the mysterious men and women behind SM. When clicking on the footer cartoon we are taken to the about page which educates us on who these folks are and what they do. This brings a level of transparency that the previous design did not have. This is Aarons LifeOh, hi there Aaron! In TIAL’s footer we meet Aaron face to face. This could almost be described as a face to face meeting but presented online. Neat idea for any freelancer or blogger looking to create a strong personal brand that has their face attached to business. Mutant LabsMutant Labs is similar in Vimeo in their approach. Instead of a group shot doing something fun they also took on a degree of silliness. Great to get people inspired to take on Mutant Labs as their web developer. It shows a since of creativity right from the start. This in turn can easily increase sales. Level 9 DesignSo, I can’t quite tell if Stan is really an employee of the business or not. If he is, more power to him! Regardless, Level 9 Design brings a great personal sense of humor to their front page. This can be risky but for perspective clients with like minds it could draw in those who can’t quite decide. Bringing in like minded customers can make the process smoother and more successful. Maurivan LuizLanding on Maurivan Luiz I want to hire him. This User Experience Designer has taken personal exposure to a new level. Showcasing himself with a cut out smile can be taken to a deeper level when considering the philosophy behind user experience. HashrocketHashrocket showcases it’s employees on the home page. This introduces you as a prospective client to some folks that may be working with you on your next project. Following the employees is a link to all of the rocketeers. But Hashrocket goes deeper than this, providing a Flickr feed, broadcasting their book club meetups online, and even sharing their company via a vimeo account. You can virtually become a part of their team without them ever knowing. Ok, enough with the creepy stuff. Really, the transparency in this business makes it feel personal and easy to trust. JaredigitalJared’s creativity flows from the page the moment you open it. But wait… Vince from Shamwow? This is an awesome example of using popular culture to connect a visitor to you instantly. ClearleftClearleft has a great about page. It starts with a story of who formed it and when. Then as your eyes move across the page you meet the staff. One of my favorite examples of an about page. CarsonifiedCarsonified’s bio pages for the team members are fun and helpful. Not only do we get a taste of the personal side of the employees but we are also able to easily contact them through email or twitter. Trends & YouNow that you’ve seen some great examples of transparency on blogs, twitter, and business’ websites we get an idea of where we could perfect our own transparency. For starters, personal freelancer’s thrive on self promotion. It makes sense for these websites to showcase a photo of themselves. Additionally, there are benefits from being open with your audience about yourself in bios, on blogs, and on your company profile page.In closing I’d like to leave you with a few questions. What transparency practices did you enjoy most? What other examples do you have? How do you see your transparency changing after this?Further ReadingBuilding Trust with Transparency5 Ways to Make Your Business More TransparentTransparency Is The Future Of Business47 Simple Ways to Build Trust in Your Website or Blog

Websites are social creatures. Or rather, their users are. In turn, the websites you visit are tempered by the users that interact with them. Your experience with a website, say facebook.com, is directly linked to the people with which you interact on that website. But this introduces an interesting challenge for a user experience designer: do you design for the intial experience or the resulting experience?The answer, of course, is both.User experience isn’t only about the first few times a user uses your application. Nor is it about their day-to-day use of your application. Rather, a user’s experience of your application is based upon a user’s full-spectrum relationship with the application itself. Do they trust the application? Does it align with their goals? and finally, the topic of this article: does the application and its community it engage them?Well, what does it mean to engage users? It means giving them cause for involvement. To that end, an engaged user involves themselves with a product, service, or community not because of their own wants or desires, but because of what that product, service, or community stands for. They use the product because they believe in it and its cause. But making people believe in you is difficult work.So UX, how do you do the voodoo that you do?If the long-tail goal of your user experience is about making people believe, then we should take a cue from the masters of “suspending belief”: magicians. To quote Jamy Ian Swiss, a professional magician:“Magic only happens in a spectator’s mind. Everything else is a distraction… Methods for their own sake are a distraction. You cannot cross over into the world of magic until you put everything else aside and behind you – including your own desires and needs – and focus on bringing an experience to the audience. This is magic. Nothing else.Jamy Ian SwissIn every project, an experience happens behind the scenes, in the user’s mind. When many separate factors work together to engage your users, something magical happens. The delivery of this, however, is far from straightforward.Good user experience isn’t something that can’t be “bolted on” after a website or application has been built. It needs to live within the application’s development process, and breathe in every interaction a user has thereafter.What this means is that even if your application has an award-winning design, that alone doesn’t determine it’s overall experience. Just because an application is easy to use doesn’t mean that your users won’t grow tired of it. As I alluded to in my last article ( Focusing Interaction Design with Design Strategy, ed.), for an application to be a huge success it not only has to meet the immediate and short-term goals of the user, it has to appeal to a user’s life goals.And that’s the point of long-tail user experience: users will go on (and encourage others) to support your website if it aligns with their life goals. For example: do your user’s run a successful consultancy? and does your software make their business easier? Then they’re very likely to encourage other professional consultants to consider it. It’s common sense, but the implications are profound.Although the idea is simple, it’s a thorny issue for a website to tackle. Even if a website aligns with some of it’s user’s goals, that doesn’t mean that the user’s themselves won’t cause their own undoing. To explain this, let’s consider the case of myspace.MySpace, we (don’t) miss youLaunched in August 2003, Myspace was the preeminent social network of its day, when web 2.0 really hit it big. And although it garnered much well-deserved attention, many people complained that the site was a cultural wasteland.Why was myspace so abrasive to these people? Well, for one thing, myspace allowed users to customize their profile. Although this by itself doesn’t seem like a bad idea, it was their own downfall; when Myspace allowed everyone unbridled access to their own profiles, their website’s experience was delegated to the lowest common denominator. In the end, bad User Experience was commonplace.In an effort to address this phenomenon, one Myspace templating site, myspaceplease.com, offered 5 tips to design a bad myspace layout, including such gems as: “Use Glitter Text Everywhere,” “Use lots of Movies,” and “Capitalize every other letter.” (Certainly the humor of this article is lost by myspace’s worst perpetrators.)Although its funny in retrospect, the problem in and of itself should be of serious concern to user experience designers. Giving your users the tools to bring down others—let alone their own— experiences is tantamount to a kind of malpractice. It’s analogous to giving car keys to a 7-year-old. If they can get in the car and reach the pedal, you can kiss your car goodbye. A typical myspace profile pageSo should Myspace have removed a user’s ability to customize their own profile? Of course not. The ability for a user to personalize their experience empowers them to incorporate our website into their lifestyle, thereby improving their experience. To continue with our allegory: giving users this privilege to drive doesn’t mean that you can’t define the rules of the road. In fact, that may be the key to your website’s success.Ruling out bad User ExperiencePersonally, it’s hard to imagine a more competitive marketplace than that of online social networks. If a user has already created a profile and connected with her friends on one network, why should she switch? After all, isn’t she’s only interested in the “social” aspect of the network.Despite this, Facebook launched to the public in February 2004. And as of the date this article is being written, Facebook is the most popular online social network.So what accounts for the marked success of Facebook in the face (no pun intended) of such adversaries as Myspace? Well, a lot, really. No amount of research or polling will ever conclude that Facebook trumped Myspace due to it’s superior user experience; although I would assume that it played a part— I know it did for me.Facebook has always pursued a minimalist interface, and the evolution of that interface only hammers this point home. So while Myspace allowed users to stream video, play audio, and write with glitter text, Facebook presented useful information about its users in a compact form. In terms of aligning with their user’s goals: which site was better? The evolution of the facebook.com profile page.Well, better is a relative term. But in terms of connecting real people with other real people, Facebook trumped Myspace, easily. Not only did Facebook protect against spam users more strictly than Myspace, they focused their user’s experience on the people behind the profiles. The effect of this being: even though I might have less friends on Facebook than Myspace, I could be assured that I had more real friends on Facebook; and so, Facebook served its audience to a greater degree than Myspace ever could.In sum, while we design experiences for users, we must take into account the degree with which they can customize the experiences that other users of the site will have.LinkedIn, tooInitially, this article was written in response to a conversation I had with a colleague about LinkedIn—yet another social network; this one with the pretense that activity conducted on its website is strictly business-related.The idea has its merits: far too often, people would use their public profiles on other social networks as if they were their only means of communicating with the world. Because of this, many profiles contained photos, videos, and music that may not be indicative of their owners. While these networks succeeded in allowing people to express themselves, they fell short of being useful tools for potential employees and employers.And so, LinkedIn was born, and I created an account. Immediately after signing up, I was prompted to enter information about the companies I had worked with; as well as prior job descriptions and responsibilities. Then, after this process was complete, LinkedIn presented me with a neat little online resume.That’s nice, I thought. I can use this when I want to impress people. Or, if I’m lazy, I won’t need to put together a nicely-formatted resume; just as long as I keep it all up to date here. Potential employers can see what I’m up to and my former colleagues can give me praise and recommend me. Everyone wins. I’ll just sign out and only sign back in if I need to reconnect with a colleague or search for a new job.Or so I thought. This would have been the end to my LinkedIn story. Indeed, I would consider that interaction blissfull compared to the way I presently interact with the service. Today, with a consistency that is far regular, I’m approached by recruiters who use LinkedIn to “get in touch” with me about what I can offer their business; even though my profile definitely says I’m working full time at a consultancy, this doesn’t deter my would-be employers.So why the rant? Because LinkedIn comes to mind as an example of long-tail User Experience gone bad. LinkedIn took a good idea (connecting a business-savvy audience) and then botched it as they tried to “bolt on” a business model. Today, using Linked in, I can’t even contact other users of the site; I have to pay a fee. The website simply assumes that I’m a recruiter looking to use the site for monetary gain.And that’s what gets me. LinkedIn took away my ability to communicate with others on their website. Their social network is now nothing more than a fancy job-board. Yes, while the market for online job boards isn’t too thoroughly saturated, this is the part where I take my chips and leave. Thanks but no thanks, LinkedIn.I mean to say: I no longer sign in to LinkedIn because doesn’t jive with my life goals. The “social” part of their network is lost on me.Closing ThoughtsDesigning User Experiences isn’t simply about designing a beautiful, usable product; although that’s certainly a huge part of it. Rather, User Experience design is holistic. It’s about creating a platform and then facilitating a function. Done correctly, your website can engage it’s audience towards a higher goal. Seth Godin calls these groups of engaged people Tribes. To quote from his book by the same name:Senator Bill Bradley defines a movement as having three elements:A narrative that tells a story about who we are and the future we’re trying to build.A connection between and among the leader and the tribe.Something to do – the fewer limits the better.Too often organizations fail to do anything but the third.Seth Godin, TribesNot only are User Experience designers responsible for creating the platform, they’re responsible for honing the messages that the site (and its community) sends.Therefore, in forming the blueprint of your next website, make sure that you take into account how users will actually use your website. After your work is done making the website attractive, easy to use, and functional, ask yourself: what will this community do? How will I engage this community once I have it?Creating a tribe is by far one of the most difficult, and yet most rewarding things you can do. And that’s what long-tail User Experience is all about.

Did you know the first “brain-tweet” was sent out this year? How about that we may someday be customizing windshields with widgets? In the not-to-distant future, we may be interfacing with computers in exciting and innovative new ways.In the grand scheme of history, it wasn’t long ago that the first telephone conversation took place. Relatively speaking, that makes the personal computer an invention of yesteryear, and social networking only a blink of an eye later. Just imagine what’s coming in the near future…The future of how we interact with computers is exciting to say the least. What once seemed like nonsense outside of Hollywood and Science Fiction is now starting to find it’s way into reality, and some of the technology is a bit overwhelming. Have a taste of what the future of interface design has to offer:Heads Up DisplaysF/A-18C HUD by RealDAlthough Heads Up Displays (or HUD’s) were originally developed for military aviation so that pilots could keep their heads up, HUD’s have found their place in many more applications. Today they can be found in many cars and in a wide variety of experimental scenarios.Consumer VehiclesSome of today’s cars are already offering HUD’s that display information such as speed or RPM’s directly onto the windshield. There are even helmet mounted Heads Up Displays available for motorcyclists now. So far we’ve only dabbled in the field of vehicular HUD’s though.A patent from Microsoft reveals that the company may look into creating windshield HUD’s in cars that display all sorts of information from temperature to email. Maybe someday we’ll even have windshields with enhanced night vision, or even customizable widgets.EyewearThere are many new eyewear HUD products on the horizon including a pair of specs being developed by Brother, and eye-gesture glasses developed by German researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems.Applications for these devices include navigating with augmented reality software, assisting engineers and doctors, or even something as simple as watching a movie or browsing the internet… only you get to do it hands free.It appears that many of the newer eyewear HUD products may start emerging as soon as 2010, but the exact specifications and pricing is a bit blurry. Until then, if you’re a DIY kind of person you might be able to hack a wearable computer with a heads-up display of your own like this guy.Gesture-based InterfacesGestural Interfaces allow computers to recognize natural human idiosyncrasies and actions. For example, there are quite a few gesture-based systems that decipher emotions in human faces or the “hidden” language of hand motions.Often times, gestures act as a more seamless way to communicate with machines. For example, the iPhone bump application allows two users to exchange contact information by literally “bumping” their phones into each other. Such an action could be compared to bumping into someone, or swapping business cards, and feels more natural to the end user.Likewise, the Palm Pre has a “gesture pad” that recognizes basic thumb swipe patterns: swipe from right-to-left to go back, throw an application off the screen to exit, or slowly drag up to bring up a global navigation menu.You may already be aware that there are tablets that can learn your unique handwriting patterns and transcribe written text with a pen into plain text for use computer documents. What may blow your mind though is that a group of scientists have a working model of a new system that does this without the pen. That’s right, you scribble your thoughts into thin air, and a computer transcribes it into editable text.Whatever the application, gesture interfaces that recognize human body language instead of archaic data entry are here to stay. They’re intuitive, user friendly, and it may even be appropriate to call them “fun“. Have you seen the latest iPod’s? Just shake them to shuffle your music library!For more information, you can pick up a copy of Designing Gestural Interfaces: Touchscreens and Interactive Devices, by Dan Saffer.Spatial Motion InterfacesThere have been a couple of very promising developments coming from the Entertainment industry for spatial Motion Interfaces: interfaces that translate movement captured in a three-dimensional space into inputs on a device. Almost everyone knows about the Nintendo Wii’s motion controllers. Sony and Microsoft are also hopping on board, introducing their own technologies in the coming years.Microsoft Xbox’s Project Natal turns the user into the controller.The PlayStation Motion Controller is Sony PlayStation’s response to market demand for a motion controller, one-upping the Wii’s Motion controller by tracking distance on top of motion and rotation. Perhaps even more exciting in the field of spatial Motion Interfaces is Microsoft Xbox’s Project Natal which uses no controller whatsoever, instead tracking the human body as the means for controls.Outside of the gaming industry, Toshiba has been developing their own hardware that appears to be taken straight out of Minority Report. They hope that someday their technology will become more available in the mainstream markets.Augmented RealityWikitude AR Travel GuideGPS systems, though useful, have begun to lose their luster as they find their way into more devices. What if instead of showing an overhead map of the area with an overlaying route, your GPS revealed directions directly on a live video feed of your current location?That would be cool, huh?Such is one of many potential applications of augmented reality systems: live views of real-world environments combined with computer generated imagery. It’s not just your imagination. In fact, some devices including a hefty number of smart phones are already finding themselves victims to AR software (Maybe you’ve heard of the Wikitude Travel Guide)Augmented reality isn’t limited to navigation of course. There are already applications like Yelp for the iPhone that streams user reviews of restaurants over the camera feed; or Nokia’s Point and Find that allows users to find relevant information about objects simply by pointing your phone camera at it; and many other practical ideas that may become a reality in the near future.Other Sensory-Based InterfacesNeural Based InterfacesTelepathy may be the works of science fiction, but with the use of new neural computer interfaces, there may be a time in the future where sending thoughts becomes common practice. It was actually earlier this year that the first tweet was sent via brain from the University of Wisconsin’s Neural Interface Lab.Another company, Braingate, has developed a similar technology that has allowed paralyzed participants to check email, or even play a game of pong using only their mind.The technology works by implanting a small microchip in the users brain which analyzes pulses as inputs for the devices being used. Of course, the technology is still in it’s infant stages allowing the average user to write at approximately 10 characters per minute, but the applications for such a technology are limitless. Disabled users who previously have had little or no access to email or the internet can use this technology to communicate like never before.It is hoped that someday this technology will go beyond the trivial game of pong and even help those who are paralyzed by creating a connection between the brain and muscles where a spinal cord injury otherwise prohibits communication. Such a connection may allow paralyzed users to someday move certain muscles again, and perhaps even walk.Voice Based InterfacesLeft: iPhone | Right:Tom Clancy’s EndWarVocal Interfaces aren’t exactly new, but we keep finding new applications for them. From cell phones that recognize basic commands and names, to video games that respond to speech (such as the game “Tom Clancy’s: EndWar” which can be controlled entirely by voice commands), we’ve seen some innovative applications thus far.MIT recently developed a wheelchair with a voice interface that not only responds to speech, but also saves detailed maps in memory and can take the user to their desired location via simple voice command. Another relatively new application of voice interfaces includes Google Mobiles “Search by Voice” commands.Surfaces Become SmartLast but not least, interface designers are tapping into something almost as ubiquitous as air itself: surfaces.If you want to see a truly inspiring look of what the future may be more like, you’ve gotta take a minute to watch Microsoft’s vision of the future. If it doesn’t make you want to live in the future, nothing will.Okay, so maybe were a ways off from this, but there are a definitely few conceptual ideas worth getting excited over. For one, CRISTAL is a smart surface that takes on the form of a common table. What’s not so common however is that this table can control many of the electronic devices in your room, such as TV’s, Sound Systems, Lights, Radios, and even DVD Players.There’s also a group of MIT students who have developed a prototype system that could potentially turn any surface into a smart surface using a webcam and projector. Pick up a newspaper, and watch a video of the headline news directly on the paper. Need to dial a friend? Hold out your hand to let a number pad appear before your eyes. It’s a concept of course, but definitely one I could get behind.

Dealing with user errors is a hidden source of friction. UX consultant John Hyde discusses best practice including a financial website that boosted conversions by 17% with these guidelines.The happy pathDesigners talk about the ‘happy path’ through a website, where smiling users enter correct and complete data and press the right buttons in the right order.The first time I measured this happiness I was surprised. My programmer logged details of a simple lead-generation form:31% made an error on their first go7 of these got back on track24 left the website without converting—some after many attemptsThis means that 24% of the people who tried to convert were let down by how the website dealt with their mistakes.What is best practice for dealing with user errors ? Make it clear that something is wrong.Show the user which field (or fields) are wrong in form errors.Display error messages that help users get back on track.Save what the user has entered—both good and bad so they do not have to repeat data entry. This mortgage site shows the way. Red and Yellow are now standard colors for showing errors. From 6 feet away you can clearly see that there is an error and where it is. Red text under the bad fields is a good example to follow. This shoe website has another good way to show error messages. The message is right there with the problem.Inline validation and error messagesInline validation is when the site validates a field when the user leaves the field and before pressing the ‘submit‘ button. In other words, a user knows if the data entered is acceptable instantaneously. This technique is very good for fields like User Names where the site visitor wants to know right away if a selected username is taken or still available (rather than submitting the form several times looking for the right username).Inline validation is well covered by Yahoo’s Luke Wroblewski on A List Apart.But there are some problems with inline validation:Inline validation can be expensive in programming effort—you still need server side validation as well.Big libraries can make pages slow to load which can hurt conversion rates.If you have the budget (or you’re a savvy developer) then try inline validation—but do an A/B split test to see if it’s helping or hurting. I’ve had mixed results with inline validation even for just simple checks like mandatory fields.How to word your error messagesFor an existing site ‘mixing with your customers‘ will get you a long way. Get your programmer to log user errors in forms, including the bad data they have entered. You will find:A small number of problem fields. Sometimes it may just be one problem field.Errors follow patternsEach common error pattern needs its own custom error message. I’ll say that again: each common error pattern needs its own custom error message. Doing this is low-cost and you will get very insightful information that can drastically improve results.For a brand new website, previous experience will help you to guess the kinds of errors that users will make. After going live you must revisit this and see if there are new kinds of errors.The custom error message should be:Tactful and blame-free – ‘Oops’ is goodClear about just what is wrongHelping the user to get it rightThis power company gets it right—very clear where to get the correct customer number: Let’s look at the email address: this is often a problem field. Here is how NOT to do it: We can all see what is wrong – but the site dumps a big list of everything that could be wrong How about “Your email address needs an ‘@’ sign“.Other errors will need custom messages: bob.green@superduper => "Email address is incomplete - check the ending" bob./green@superduper.com => "Email address has an unusual character ( / )" Do this with the common errors and only then use a “one size” error message for the oddballs.This is another reason for not using ‘expression matching’ for validating fields. The user input will only ever pass or fail the test and you then have no idea why it failed so you are stuck with dumping a manual page on the user. A more targeted message could nudge her back on to the happy path.Empty fieldsA common error is when a mandatory field is empty. This is often an email field or a phone number field. The site visitor has not forgotten this field, they are often reluctant to share this personal information and wants to try and move forward anonymously. Having no data is different from invalid data and it needs a different error message.My tip in this scenario is to explain why the information is going to help the user:“We need a phone number in case our driver is running late”“Enter your email address so we can help if you forget your password”“Enter your postcode to help fast delivery of your order”Results up by 17%The financial services website followed these guidelines. The before numbers were:100 submitters31 first-time errors7 recovered24 didn’t recoverBefore: 76% success rate (= 100% – 24%) After: 89% success rate. By following these guidelines, inquiries are up by 17%.The key part of getting the user back on the happy path was specific and helpful error messages.Further Reading:General validationInline ValidationUsability from guru Jakob NielsenSplit (A/B) Testing