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Error Messaging Overview
The error messaging is a place to describe both the error and how to correct it. It is designed to be prominent, so that it will be instantly noticed if there is an error.
The size of error icon has been greatly reduced. This will allow for slightly more room for the actual error message.
Rules:
Upon form submission, all errors that are correctable by the user should be presented.
For example, if a user does not enter a FIRSTNAME field, the error message should first direct the user to enter a first name, "It appears you did not enter your first name. Please enter your first name below." It does not need to also list other criteria that are not met, such as, "Your first name must be at least two characters", and "Your first name must not contain any special characters". However, it should continue validating the rest of the form to highlight other potential mistakes, such as "Your password must be at least seven characters. Please increase the length of your password for stronger security."
An error message should be written in plain language. It should gracefully describe the error and how to correct it. It does not need to be apologetic.
WRONG: "We are sorry, your password must be at least 7 characters". (apologetic)
WRONG: "You must enter a valid password." (Does not specifically say how to correct the problem.)WRONG: "Seven characters are required for your password." (Not scannable. Starting the sentence with Seven doesn't help the scannability. Also, on the web, listing numbers as digits and not spelling them out increases usability.
BETTER: "Your password must be at least seven characters." (This is acceptable, but only implies how to fix the problem. Ideally it would explicity state how to fix the problem.)
CORRECT "Your password must be at least seven characters. Please increase the length of your password for stronger security." (Tells user exactly what to do, and even adds a subtle why [for stronger security] so that it helps the user understand why they must do this.)