Products · Pattern or everyday thing
Emergency alerts
Raised as a usability problem by 10 people on Hacker News over 9 years (2018–2026), in 9 threads.
No issue was raised by at least 3 people in 3 threads this year.
No issue was raised by at least 3 people in 3 threads in the last 5 years.
Every issue, all time, most people first
Repeated alerts leave people unsure what to doUnreviewed
20182026- Default alert apps have terrible UX, producing a constant stream of irrelevant alarms2026-06-21
- Dismissing the alert makes it vanish, so reading it requires enduring the noise2024-10-05
- Alerts were sent repeatedly, leaving people confused about what to do2019-06-24
Unreviewed issues were grouped by machine: Claude Haiku labelled each comment as a usability complaint, named what it's about and summed up the problem in a line, and a small model grouped similar problems. Nobody has checked them by hand. Expect mistakes.
The newest 10 complaints
- Default alert apps have terrible UX, producing a constant stream of irrelevant alarms2026-06-21
- No clear way to find which emergency number to call from abroad2025-11-13
- Same siren sound for different hazards makes people take the wrong action2025-07-16
- Dismissing the alert makes it vanish, so reading it requires enduring the noise2024-10-05
- Unclear what the yes/no choice will actually do, and it adds burden during an emergency2023-03-06
- Nothing hints that the screen scrolls, so the alarm sound setting is hidden below the fold2022-12-28
- Must go through operator form and long hold before reaching police during an emergency2021-10-24
- Alerts were sent repeatedly, leaving people confused about what to do2019-06-24
- Single confirmation pop-up is easy to click past, so real and drill alerts get confused2018-01-16
- Easy to click the wrong option when drill and live messages look similar2018-01-16