Errors! We don’t talk about them enough, but they happen all the time.

Digital products are far from perfect. These imperfections may present as mistakes, misunderstandings, technical faults, or edge cases—and they often impact the user experience. This article covers errors in web and mobile user interfaces, why they exist, the common types, and design strategies to minimize their impact.

Interface Errors 101

An interface error is a condition or state where an app is unable to fulfill the demands of the user. There are three typical cases:

• The app fails to do what’s requested because it’s not equipped to.
• The app cannot understand the input from the user (which may be invalid).
• The user attempts to mix otherwise non-combinable operations.

Errors can significantly affect UX, and since there’s no way to avoid them completely, designers need to find ways to make error interactions more friendly and smooth.

This matters because psychological stress from smartphone interactions has been linked to error messages raising cortisol (the stress hormone) levels. In other words, bad error design can literally stress people out.

Best Practices for Handling Interface Errors

There are many error-prevention and error-handling strategies, including tooltips, prompts, tutorials, directional cues, suggestions, limitations, and highlights. It’s important to be aware of the errors your users are actually experiencing so you can respond thoughtfully.

Here are some best practices:

1. Make Errors Immediately Noticeable

Instead of masking an error, make it visible.

Even with minimalist UI, users shouldn’t have to hunt from one field to another to find what went wrong. Clearly surfacing the error saves time and effort and reduces frustration.

2. Deploy Clear Visual Markers

Use your understanding of mental models and how users think to reduce cognitive load—especially because errors are unpleasant by default.

Common visual markers include:

• Red color
• Exclamation marks
• Icons indicating warning or failure

However, make sure your color choices work for color-blind users and maintain good readability across different devices and environments.

3. Use Clear Explanations

Don’t just fix the problem—explain it.

Good error messages help users understand what happened and how to avoid it next time. It’s better to say:

“The username or password does not match.”

than:

“You cannot use this app!”

The first is explanatory and actionable; the second is only informing (and comes across as harsh).

4. Be Constructive and Supportive

Other helpful tips include:

• Only requesting necessary actions from the user
• Writing simple, human-sounding error messages
• Avoiding language that blames or shames the user

Overall, it’s best to be constructive:

• On the web, give options to move to other pages or retry actions.
• On mobile, make it easy to step back, reconnect, or refresh.
• At every step, provide access to help or support—just like many of the applications available on UILand.

Conclusion

Errors are unavoidable, but poor error design is not.

By making error states visible, understandable, and supportive, UI designers can turn error messages into a superpower that builds trust and reduces user stress. Thoughtful error screens and messages keep people moving forward—rather than abandoning your app at the first sign of trouble.