Helpful Error Messaging

In Personas, @Vadim Demedes and I try to provide our users with as much visibility into the errors they may be encountering as possible. But designing a good error state is tricky: it shouldn’t only display to the user that something went wrong — a good error state is also actionable, and helps users understand what steps to take next.

In this situation, a user is presented with an error because one of the destinations they have set up with Personas, in this case Facebook Audiences, is not syncing correctly. The error message presented here first clearly indicates that there is something wrong with a particular destination sync.

The user is then guided to the next screen, which further details the nature of the error. In this detailed view, users can see a list of successful syncs, as well as details of the unsuccessful one. They are able to see:

* What happened
* What corrective measures Segment has taken
* What the user should do next
* Reference documentation

With the rolling out of more detailed error messaging within Personas, we are excited to give our users increased visibility into the errors that may transpire within Segment, and are looking forward to empowering our customers with the knowledge and understanding to not only understand what happened — but also maybe to tackle some of these themselves!