Note to anyone who designs forms for websites: if your password field requires a number or at least one uppercase character or a special character or a letter from the Greek alphabet, note that on the f*cking screen. You know, somewhere next to or beneath the password field, in parentheses maybe. Something along the lines of: (At least one number required). See? That’s not so hard.

It’s the holiday shopping season and I’ve come across far too many e-commerce sites that don’t employ this basic usability feature. So, seeing no special instructions, I merrily type in my password only to be greeted by the red error box of shame, telling me I’ve input an incorrect password. Like it’s my fault I couldn’t read the website designer’s mind.

Makes me so mad!