Is it better to automatically redirect users or show them the requested page with an error?

Question

Given the scenario in the web application where the user must execute X before they can go to Y, but where there is always a link for Y, we are currently discussing two ways to redirect the user if they try to go to page Y:

• Display page Y with a message and a link to X.
• Redirect to X automatically, but display an overlay of the error message after the redirection indicating why they were redirected.

What would be more user friendly or better user interface and why?

Answer 1

Or you can use the third option:

When the user clicks on the link, displays a dialog box explaining the error and the recommended course of action, and then provides a link to continue, despite the error, as well as a link to redirect to the recommended page / action.

Answer 2

Hm, from the point of view of usability, I would say that it makes sense only to actually display these parameters for the user, which make sense in the context, i.e. Do not show the link to Y at all until X is executed.

Perhaps if you do not want to completely discard the link text, just delete the link and save the text (and indicate why this is happening at the moment) until X is filled?

Answer 3

Read the comments on point A and point B.

My idea is below:

You have two links: Link X and Link Y.

For item A, link X and link Y are displayed as regular hyperlinks, all is well.

For element B, link X is displayed as a regular hyperlink, but renders link Y as text / hyperlink with a special sign icon, and when the user hovered over it (not a click), it displays a pop-up window / tooltip explaining the reason.

The idea here is to reduce mouse clicks (as you can see above, without clicking and without redirecting), as well as saving page / screen space (display the reason when you hover over).

In addition, you can enter instructions on the page, indicating that the user must complete all the actions in Link X to go to link Y.

Answer 4

I think that if, for example, they did not enter all the information they need for X, you might want to return them to X with some clearly visible indicator of what they did not do. Of course, you should not allow them to save without filling in all the information, but sometimes the server check is not performed.

In the end, although it was six of one, half a dozen of the other, and I saw him in both directions.

If they should do x to y, why is the link to y always available?

Answer 5

I would go with a second approach. Since, most likely, we know that the user will return to the previous page, check other links or check what could cause the problem. Thus, this method saved some time for the user.

Answer 6

I do not allow the user to navigate X if this does not fit.

However, since you are asking about user friendliness, I think your users may get confused on page X when they think they are on Y (and they won’t even notice the 100px bar on top of their browsers, unless it turns red and blinking), so I would go to a completely blank page with an error (without navigation) with only a clear message and link. Something like a simple HTTP 404 error page.

Answer 7

It depends on the expectation of the user.

If the user can understand why they are redirected (the classic example is “you need to log in to view this page”), do it.

If the user is likely to be confused why they see what they did not ask for, then show them what they requested, with appropriate restrictions and error messages.