Status and alerts overview

Status and alert components known as alert banners, notification banners, site alerts, page alerts or critical alerts, keep users informed of important and sometimes time-sensitive changes. Alerts may just notify users on an information or may require users to take action.

They stand out from other contents on the site and prominently display the critical, time-sensitive warnings or directions across every page so that the users see it whenever they visit the site. Using the same site alert treatment, helps create a consistent and predictable way for users to find urgent information across the site.

Ensure your alerts are relevant, consistent, and informative.

Alerts should be temporary

This way we ensure that users are informed promptly without causing unnecessary confusion or clutter on the website. Note that time is very subjective and will depend on variables like business requirement, frequency of site visit, severity of the situation, etc. This helps with “alert fatigue” or “banner blindness” – when people become less receptive to alerts and warning messages the more often they see them.

Make sure to choose the right alert type

There are different alerts for different types of situations, using the wrong type can confuse users. 

Banner Management

Consider how the banner may need to change over the course of a crisis, and after a crisis, you may want the banner to announce that the emergency is over, using cooler colors to indicate that the situation is now less urgent. Remove them once the purpose is solved. 

Limit the number of alerts used across pages

Use at impacted points of service or information delivery, such as service initiation pages, contact pages, etc. Avoid beyond service or information delivery points - on theme and topic pages, consider using a new doormat instead.

Save alerts for significant situations that impact most users

On the home page, only use when more than 50% of the population is affected. On institutional landing pages, only use when more than 40% of users are impacted.

Keep alerts short and simple

Convey crucial information concisely and clearly to ensure quick comprehension and user engagement by using either a short phrase or a complete sentence that describes what's happening and what someone needs to know. Whenever possible, include an in-line action for a user to take so that they can readily address the issue explained in the message.