Warning design guidelines

This document contains a set of guidelines aimed at helping software designers and developers in designing more effective warning dialogs. These guidelines were compiled from available literature on usable security and warnings research and from Human Interface Guidelines for three broadly used operating systems: Windows, MacOS, and Linux. A brief description of the guidelines follows: 1. Describe the risk comprehensively: Warnings are meant to alert the user of an impending risk to her infor-mation or her identity. Whenever a warning is used, the risk that motivates the usage of a warning should be identified and presented clearly. 2. Be concise and accurate: Warnings always interrupt the user. If too long, overly technical, inaccurate, or ambiguous, a warning will simply be discarded and its purpose will be lost. 3. Offer meaningful options: Warnings should present understandable choices, and enough information to decide between them. 4. Present relevant contextual information: In most contexts that require a warning to be shown, a computer or software system cannot make a decision on behalf of the user. Warnings should present relevant contextual information that allows the user to make an informed decision