Summary: Not every piece of data is a story—and that’s the whole point. When people try to extract meaning from content that was never meant to carry a narrative, they risk misunderstanding the purpose of the message and, more dangerously, waste time solving the wrong problem. This post pulls apart a non-story: a JSON error message. We’ll break down why trying to find a “story” where none exists is counterproductive, illustrate the mindset shift that’s needed when dealing with technical data, and explain how marketers, developers, and product owners can better frame this kind of content.
The Misfire: Trying to Extract Meaning From a Machine’s Frustration
Let’s get straight to it: The text in question is not a story. It’s a JSON error message. Machine output. Programmatic feedback. It says—clearly—there’s an insufficient account balance. That’s not a plotline, that’s a status update.
The human instinct to search for patterns is powerful. It drives art, science, and innovation. But it also creates false positives. This is especially true in the marketing and product spheres where every bit of data is expected to reveal consumer intent or hidden insight.
The reality is simpler: developers write software to check things—like account balances—and send static responses when those checks fail. These messages aren’t meant to be interpreted emotionally or creatively. They’re meant to be debugged and fixed.
Why Context Matters More Than Content
What happens when someone tries to turn a JSON error into a narrative? They misplace the context. Rather than resolving the root issue—insufficient balance on an account—they start asking unhelpful questions: “What’s the user trying to say?” or “What’s the story here?”
JSON responses are machine-to-machine conversations. The story isn’t in the message—it’s in the situation that produced it. So, the better question is: What triggered the error? What’s the actual process behind this message? How was the system designed? Who let the failure surface at a user-facing level? If you start there, you get closer to actual problem-solving.
Technical Feedback Is Not Public Narrative
Let’s run through what this kind of error typically looks like in a JSON response:
{
"error": "InsufficientBalance",
"message": "Your account balance is too low to complete this transaction."
}
You don’t need a storyteller to translate that. You need infrastructure support or a front-end developer who knows how to redirect users from a dead-end. It’s a user block, not a user journey.
Ask yourself: was this message ever meant to persuade, connect, or entertain? No. It exists to inform. And once that’s done, it’s already fulfilled its role. Pushing it into a narrative box turns useful friction into confused noise.
But Can It Still Be Useful for Marketers or Product Designers?
Now we’re asking smarter questions. Instead of “what’s the story?” we ask, “how often is this error happening, and why?”—which opens the door to metrics, UX audits, and policy adjustments.
If a system is routinely returning an “insufficient balance” error, that’s a UX red flag. Maybe users aren’t receiving clear enough warnings about their limits. Maybe there’s no indicator before submission. Now you’ve got actual product questions rooted in observed behavior—not fictional storytelling.
The story, if one insists on finding one, is analytical: too many users are hitting this error message. That’s not a plot twist—that’s a pattern. And patterns are business-relevant.
Was the Error Message Ever the Problem?
No. The system is doing its job. But if the message becomes a bottleneck—a frequent point of failure—then marketers, developers, and UX designers all need to ask: Is this being displayed at the right moment? Are there upstream checks being missed? Are we asking the user to do something they can’t afford?
This clarity helps companies avoid the trap of blaming communication when the real issue is process. Do you think the customer wants a better error message? Maybe. But mostly they want to complete their task without hitting one at all.
Stop Chasing Stories That Aren’t There
Manufacturing a story around a machine’s status puts you at war with reality. Don’t confuse data outputs with human engagement. Data has meaning, but not all meaning is narrative. And that distinction matters if you’re in charge of product, marketing, or design.
Instead, shift the focus. Ask:
- “What outcome was the user pursuing?”
- “Where in our system do we surface this blockage?”
- “Is this something that could be prevented through UI design or prior warnings?”
- “Are our systems aligned with users’ expectations and behaviors?”
When you’re running lean—and let’s be real, most product teams are—chasing ghost narratives wastes margin. Interrogate the logic, not the language. Fix the process, and the messages will fix themselves.
The Point Isn’t to Humanize Machines. It’s to Understand Their Design.
If you’re a product manager, stop asking copywriters to “humanize the message” without fixing the logic behind it. If you’re in marketing, avoid using interface errors as metaphors for growth or struggle. Customers don’t care for poetic error messages; they want smooth transactions.
JSON isn’t broken. It’s precise. It tells you what broke and often why. Leave it there. Don’t search for stories in technical sand. Use that energy to improve the client’s outcome or reduce friction in your delivery.
The Bottom Line: Fix the Friction, Not the Feedback
Not every piece of content is meant to be emotional or resonant. Some just need to be correct and fast. Parsing machine code like it’s a Pixar script leads to distraction. Learn to recognize when the right response isn’t to tell a better story—but to build a better system.
So next time someone hands you a JSON block and asks for the “key takeaway,” respond with a better question: “What do we want the user to be able to do—and how can we help them do it without ever seeing this message?” That’s where real change begins.
#UXDesign #ProductManagement #JSONErrors #UserExperienceMatters #MarketingRealityCheck #TechCommunication #FixTheSystem #NoStoryJustSignal #DebugDontDramatize
Featured Image courtesy of Unsplash and Joshua Hoehne (vCO1Frox2j4)
