Lync - wait 15 minutes - Error handling, UX and automatic software updates: a bad example
Not all issues are bugs, and not all issues take a long time to fix. Consider this example from Microsoft Lync (the posh Skype): Be right back... Unlike many other application boo-boos exemplified in this series, this one is a bit hard to explain. The message does admit there is a problem, and this is a modal dialog (absorbing all user input and so blocking any other part of the application from processing any new user actions). So, on the face of it, this appears an example of catastrophic failure . However, reading further through the message, we see that the user has a rather specific task to perform: restart and leave it running for 15 minutes . Restart does seem a little unfortunate and casual: we don't quite know what the problem is, but in fact we DO know the software is, like your aunt Wilma's old car, a bit unreliable, and just needs a bit of a kick and another try every now and then. Admitting to unreliability is unfortunate, yet the honesty is to be commended - hop...