87: Not All Mistakes Are Bad

87: Not All Mistakes Are Bad

• Dimitri Van der Linden studied that people employ when learning how to use computers and electronic devices.
• Der Linden also says that errors have consequences. But not all consequences are negative.
• Sometimes, making an error has a negative consequence, it's also likely that error has a positive or a neutral outcome.
• Sometimes, making an error has a negative consequence, it's also likely that the error has a positive or a neutral outcome.
• Errors with a positive consequence are activities that do not give the desired result but provide the person with information that helps him or her achieve an overall goal.
• Errors with a negative consequence are those that result in a dead-end, undo a positive consequence, send the person back to a starting point, or result in action that cannot be reversed.
• Errors with a neutral consequence are errors that have no effect on task completion.

Takeaway

• Although you don't want people to make lots of errors when using your product, errors will occur.
• Since you know there will be errors, look for and document them during user testing. Note whether each error consequence is positive, negative, or neutral.
• After user testing (and even before it), concentrate on redesigning to minimize or avoid an error with negative consequences first.