“Damn! Where is it?” – 404 error pages

<Oops! The page does not exist!>

How many times you have faced this error message when you tried to visit a website. Maybe you typed the wrong name, maybe the page has been moved, or maybe the page doesn’t exist anymore. Whatever the reason, you are flashed with the default page, which doesn’t help you much, nor does it look good. All that page does is tell you either of the above-mentioned reasons.

Why am I writing about such an insignificant page? And why does it have to be meaningful? First, is this page important for any company? Yes, it is. For here is where you can do a bit more for the brand your company is. Guide users to do something meaningful, rather than just display an error.

Okay, so I have been displayed this 404 page for the any one of the above reasons, and I am greeted with a pleasant page which matches the brand values of the company, has some meaningful links that prompt user action (in this case I have an option to click something). You could engage the user in mailing you for information, or take him/her to the correct home page, or convey that he/she will need to come back some time later. Whatever you do here make it meaningful, and keep in mind the user is king. He/she will only be helped and pleasantly surprised by your proactive design vision.

Keep some of the important points in mind while designing a 404 error page.

(1)    Make it visually appealing

__________________________________________________________________________________

(2)    Navigation Alternative

__________________________________________________________________________________

(3)    Display within your website

__________________________________________________________________________________

(4)    Communicate with and to your users

__________________________________________________________________________________

(5)    Sincerity helps too

__________________________________________________________________________________

(6)    Graphically arresting

__________________________________________________________________________________

(7)    Just like those

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

References:
www.patterntap.com
www.ui-patterns.com
blogof.francescomugnai.com
www.smashingmagazine.com
www.alistapart.com

Advertisement

Posted by Sachyn on September 6, 2009

http://interaxndesign.wordpress.com/2009/09/06/%e2%80%9cdamn-where-is-it%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-404-error-pages/