Twitter Error Messages
About a month ago, I started using the social networking and micro-blogging service Twitter. To date, I’ve encountered four different error messages (see screenshots below), listed in descending order of frequency:
- “Twitter is over capacity.” (a.k.a., “fail whale“)
- “That page doesn’t exist!”
- “Something is technically wrong.”
- “Who goes there?”
For the most part, the error messages provide appropriate feedback, as suggested by both Jacob Nielsen (“Error Message Guidelines“) and Donald Norman (“The Design of Everyday Things“). The one message that could provide more informative feedback to users is “Something is technically wrong.” The only explanation I could find for this error message on Twitter’s blog came from the “Timeline Oddity Update” post:
“We were testing a new application server tonight that didn’t work right so we rolled it back. Lots of folks saw an error page while we were fixing the bug – which is a bummer.”
and
“While we’re working on this, you might see the “Something is technically wrong” page.”
Unfortunately, now that I use the application TweetDeck to send and receive “tweets,” I’ll no longer receive error messages, thus being deprived of appropriate feedback, unless I access the service from their website.
BTW, I’d be interested in hearing from others if you’ve encountered additional error messages besides the ones I’ve listed.
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Grand Challenges for the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society
In 2007, Waldemar Karwowski gave the presidential address at the 51st Annual Meeting of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.
The presentation, kindly provided by Dr. Karwowski, was entitled “Grand Challenges for HFES and Its Place in a Changing World” (3 MB, pdf), and addressed several issues, including:
- 50 Years of HF/E Evolution
- HFES as HF/E Leader in the Changing World
- From Past to Future: Building a Collective Vision for HFES 2020+ (600 KB, pdf)
- The Grand Challenges for HFES in the 21st Century
- Moving from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age
- Convergence of Nanotechnology, Biotechnology, and Information Technology
- Nanoergonomics: The Human Factors in the Age of Nanotechnology (4 MB, pdf)
- A New Mission – “Sustainable Human-Centered Philosophy and Design”
- One President’s Dream about the Future of HFES
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Ergonomics Covered in Metropolis Magazine
Last week, DESIGNING *for humans, the blog maintained by Rob Tannen, alerted readers that the March issue of Metropolis covered ergonomics in their “What is Good Design?” section. So this weekend I took the opportunity to stop by Barnes & Noble in Boise to purchase a copy.
The 29-page special product issue section is divided into 10 “good” categories, each with an accompanying article. They include:
- Sustainable
- Accessible
- Functional
- Well Made
- Emotionally Resonant
- Enduring
- Socially Beneficial
- Beautiful
- Ergonomic
- Affordable
The ergonomics article focuses on research to perfect the design and usefulness of prosthetics.
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Nanotechnology and Idaho
This morning I listened to the webcast, Nanotechnology: Will It Drive a New Innovation Economy for the U.S.?, presented at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
On pages 21 & 22 of the slide presentation they showed two sets of graphics: “New nanotechnology-based firms in the US (NNBFs)” & “Emerging US Nanodistricts,” respectively. While Idaho shows up on the former, as of now, there are no areas within the state that qualify as “nanodistricts” – at least by the author’s definition.
These slides reminded me of the Innovation Business Directory published by the Idaho Department of Commerce. According to the latest version (Oct. 2008), there are 15 companies and 4 universities & research institutes that perform nanotechnology-related work within the state. While this is a good start, I’m hopeful that Idaho will be able to incubate and continue to grow its nanotechnology industry in the upcoming years.
As I mentioned in a previous post, I’ve had an interest – personally and professionally – in nanotechnology for several years. With respect to the latter, as a human factors and ergonomics professional, I look forward to working with local companies by applying knowledge from the emerging field of nanoergonomics to assist with developing potential new technologies that enhance safety, human performance, and satisfaction.
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A Tribute to David Meister, Ph.D.
Three years ago today, Dr. David Meister, a most influential voice in the human factors and ergonomics community, passed away. A few of Dr. Meister’s professional accomplishments include being president of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (then the Human Factors Society) from 1974-1975, one of the founders of the Board of Certification in Professional Ergonomics, and publisher of numerous books and journal articles.
I had the pleasure of meeting and spending a few moments talking with him at the 43rd Annual Meeting of the HFES in Houston, Texas. It’s hard to express what profound effect this interaction had on me as a graduate student still trying to determine if I wanted to further my educational pursuits or not. While there, I was also able to purchase his recently published book, The History of Human Factors and Ergonomics, and have it personally autographed. To this day, it remains a prized treasure in my book collection.
While there have been several luminaries in the field of human factors and ergonomics, Dr. Meister’s contributions toward the philosophy and history of the discipline puts him in a class all his own.
In case you’re interested, a more thorough biography of his life can be found at Ergoweb.
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