IEC TR 63183:2019

IEC TR 63183 ®
Edition 1.0 2019-12
TECHNICAL
REPORT
colour
inside
Guidance on error and warning messages for software used in radiotherapy
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IEC TR 63183 ®
Edition 1.0 2019-12
TECHNICAL
REPORT
colour
inside
Guidance on error and warning messages for software used in radiotherapy

INTERNATIONAL
ELECTROTECHNICAL
COMMISSION
ICS 11.040.60 ISBN 978-2-8322-7715-7

– 2 – IEC TR 63183:2019 © IEC 2019
CONTENTS
FOREWORD . 4
INTRODUCTION . 6
1 Scope . 7
2 Normative references . 7
3 Terms and definitions . 8
4 General guidance . 8
5 Designing error message displays . 8
5.1 Design systems to avoid the errors in the first place . 8
5.2 Categorize messages . 8
5.3 Consolidate reports and displayed error messages . 9
5.4 Summary of main concepts . 9
6 Message content usability guidelines . 10
6.1 Basic structure . 10
6.2 OPERATOR centred . 10
6.3 Message clarity . 10
6.4 Message action ability . 12
6.5 Conciseness . 12
6.6 Message specificity . 12
6.7 Courteous . 13
6.8 Use of error codes . 13
7 Guidelines for the development process . 13
8 Visual design guidelines . 14
(informative) Checklist . 15
(informative) Examples . 16
Bibliography . 23
Index of defined terms . 24

Figure 1 – Example error message answering what happened, why and what to fix . 10
Figure 2 – Example error message with unclear language on how to proceed . 11
Figure 3 – Example error message with unfamiliar OPERATOR abbreviations . 11
Figure 4 – Example error message implying the system thinks . 11
Figure 5 – Example of an unhelpful error message . 12
Figure 6 – Example error message showing error code . 13
Figure B.1 – Example 1. 16
Figure B.2 – Example 2. 16
Figure B.3 – Example 3. 17
Figure B.4 – Example 4. 17
Figure B.5 – Example 5. 17
Figure B.6 – Example 6. 18
Figure B.7 – Example 7. 18
Figure B.8 – Example 8. 18
Figure B.9 – Example 9. 19
Figure B.10 – Example 10 . 19

Figure B.11 – Example 11 . 20
Figure B.12 – Example 12 . 20
Figure B.13 – Example 13 . 20
Figure B.14 – Example 14 . 21
Figure B.15 – Example 15 . 21
Figure B.16 – Example 16 . 22
Figure B.17 – Example 17 . 22
Figure B.18 – Example 18 . 22

Table 1 – Replacing engineering language with language understandable for
operators . 10

– 4 – IEC TR 63183:2019 © IEC 2019
INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION
____________
GUIDANCE ON ERROR AND WARNING MESSAGES
FOR SOFTWARE USED IN RADIOTHERAPY

FOREWORD
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example "state of the art".
IEC TR 63183, which is a Technical Report, has been prepared by subcommittee 62C:
Equipment for radiotherapy, nuclear medicine and radiation dosimetry, of IEC technical
committee 62: Electrical equipment in medical practice.
The text of this Technical Report is based on the following documents:
Draft TR Report on voting
62C/738/DTR 62C/741/RVDTR
Full information on the voting for the approval of this Technical Report can be found in the
report on voting indicated in the above table.
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