The Politeness Problem

Most UIs aren’t confusing because they’re broken.
They’re confusing because they’re scared to be clear.
“We’re sorry, something’s not quite right.”
“Let’s maybe try saving this?”
“Click here when you’re ready :)”

Nice tone. No information.

I wrote about what happens when a product tries so hard to be friendly… it forgets how to be useful: https://blog.dnsk.work/politeness-problem/