http://www.Heinz.com/404

Rebeca: Speaking of creativity-for-its-own-sake, I really liked the 404 message you shared, but there are a couple of BIG problems with it — both of which make Sean’s point. First of all, I shouldn’t have to wait for a 404 page to load. It’s supposed to help me move forward, not back. The Flash programming makes it bulky and slow-loading. Then, once I finally get to the “about” section, there’s nothing telling me who this person (business?) is. The “press” section is equally mysterious. So, all I’m left with is that this person and/or business built a really amazing error page that left me wondering whether he/she/they did the trailers for the TV show “Lost” or the movie “Missing.” It’s really hard to tell without any prior knowledge.

Heinz: Thank you for sharing this one, but let me tell you why they’re doing exactly what you DON’T want to do. Yes, there’s good navigation and they offer a couple of downloads, but the message is all wrong. They say, “Oops, you are lost!” Hmm… No kidding. Thanks for reminding me. By saying “you are lost,” they’re suggesting that it’s my fault. I’m lost?

In most cases I’d agree with your critique, but there is a lot to be said for context. Judging from your response, I’m guessing you don’t often read The New Yorker.

The category names are the ones they use in the magazine, and they’re integral to their brand. They may not be ideal for first-time Web visitors, but it would likely be bad business for them to create a disconnect between the magazine and the website. Also, you can still click on the homepage by clicking the logo on the top navigation. That’s pretty standard, and most visitors will know that intuitively without wondering why they’re not getting a link straight to the homepage. Instead of just the homepage, they’re giving you the opportunity to explore any part of the website. Not a bad idea in this case.

Finally, in regard to the cartoon, I’m not sure it’s so serious. Keep in mind, this is a literary magazine. It’s not technically a “computer error” but something got derailed — kind of a soft jab at our reliance on technology. And, yeah, a broken experience is like a broken road. So my take is that it’s sort of like saying, “Well, that happen… Now, where were we?”

http://www.uk.zylom.com/error

You can be interesting without scaring the heck out of customers. Here’s what we do. And it’s still work in progress.

http://www.psychotactics.com/404.htm

If he HAD gone there looking for some specific content, he’s be just as likely to hit back upon finding it not there. In addition the “computer error” message does actually suggest it’s the website’s fault, which could encourage a back-click without bothering to check if there’s something obviously wrong with the url, such as a bit missing off the end.

“Not your fault, computer error, this website screwed up” isn’t really that positive a message – heck they even have a fancy error page as it apparantly happens often?

To compound the error they then gives links to stuff with quirky names:

The Film File
Books Briefly Noted
Recordings
Tables for Two

“Books briefly noted” is clear and to the point. “Recordings”? What’s that, music, video, a fancy name for some pretentious old goat’s blog? I presume not video as there’s a big “Video” text in black at the side.

A direct list of some of today’s top headlines that someone may have screwed the url up would be both more useful and likely to grab my attention. Alternatively a simple search box and “Oops, file not found, try a search or click HOMEPAGE?” would at least load much faster and narrow my choices. The homepage at least offers me up to date stuff, the search to look for something specific but such a wide choice and silly names to boot just made me wonder – ‘Do I want to devote any time to exploring this site?’. Answer: Nah.

It left me cold to be honest.

There’s a qualitative difference, don’t you think?

http://www.tud.ttu.ee/error.html

that made me chuckle

My two personal favorites are
Homestar Runner: http://www.homestarrunner.com/404
and
the depressed web server: http://www.tud.ttu.ee/error.html

Cheers,

Julien