After Monitoring, What Should Users Do Next?

The monitoring ran. The status was checked. A problem was found.
But the user may still be stuck.

So what should I do now?

At first, it is easy to think of monitoring as “checking the status of a website.” Is the site working? Is it slow? Is there an error? Of course, this is an important role of monitoring.

But knowing the status and knowing how to respond are not the same thing.

Even if a result is shown on the screen, users may still feel lost if they cannot figure out what to do next. If monitoring stops at simply showing a result, users are left to interpret the meaning on their own.

In this note, we want to write about the gap between checking the status and knowing the next step.

Knowing the problem is not enough

Website monitoring shows the status of a site. It can tell whether the site is normal, whether the response is slow, whether a request failed, or whether something went wrong at a specific point in time.

This information is necessary. If users do not know there is a problem, they cannot begin to respond.

But knowing that a problem exists does not automatically make the next action clear. For example, even if the status is shown as an error, users may still face several questions.

• Can I wait and see for a while?

• Should I tell someone right away?

• Are visitors experiencing the same problem?

• Is there anything I can check myself?

• How should I explain this situation to someone else?

If users cannot answer these questions, they may still be unable to move forward even after confirming the problem.

In the monitoring experience, there are two important moments. One is the moment users check the status. The other is the moment users begin to respond. The gap we want to reduce is the space between those two moments.

Users may not need a big solution right away

A monitoring tool cannot fix every problem by itself.

It cannot repair a server, change domain settings, or rewrite code. Some issues need to be checked by a developer. Others may require looking at infrastructure or the status of an external service.

Still, we do not think monitoring should stop at saying, “There is a problem.”

When something goes wrong, users may not need a complete solution right away. What they may need first is a small next step.

• Wait a little and see whether the issue continues

• Check the status one more time

• Understand how the issue might appear to visitors

• Share the situation with a teammate or developer

• Check related work, such as ads or campaigns

These actions may not solve the problem immediately. But they help users move from sitting with uncertainty to recognizing what they can do now.

Monitoring may not be able to give a complete answer. But it can point users toward the next place to look. And sometimes, that alone can reduce a lot of uncertainty.

A good results screen should help users make a judgment

A results screen may not be just a place to show data. Statuses like normal, error, or slow response are important. But the status itself may not be what users really want to understand.

Users may want to know things like:

• Can visitors access the website right now?

• Is the problem still happening?

• How might this appear to visitors?

• Is there anything I should check immediately?

• Is this something I should share with someone else?

In other words, users may need more than a result. They may need clues for judgment.

For example, if users only see the word Timeout, they still have to interpret what it means. But if the screen says, “The page did not respond within a certain amount of time, and visitors may see the website as if it has stopped loading,” the situation becomes easier to understand. If the screen also adds something like, “Try checking again shortly. If the issue continues, check the server or API response status,” users may find it easier to think about what to do next.

This is close to the kind of easy monitoring experience we are thinking about. It is not only about detecting a problem. It is about helping users understand the problem and find the next direction.

The next step matters in technical writing too

We think about similar things when writing technical documentation. A good document is not just a document with a lot of information. Users should be able to read the information and understand what to do next.

If a document explains a concept, it should also help users understand where they will encounter that concept. If it explains how to configure something, it should lead users to what they should check after setup. If it explains an error, it should help users understand which item to check first.

Explanation becomes more useful when it leads from understanding to judgment and action. The same may be true for monitoring screens and alert messages. Showing the status may not be enough. The experience should help users understand what to judge, what information to look at next, and how to share the situation with someone else. In the end, the problem of “what should the user do next?” appears in both documentation and product experience. Showing information is different from helping users move with that information.

Thinking about monitoring that gives direction

We do not know the best answer yet.

The same guidance will not work for every situation. Some issues may be safe to wait on, while others may need immediate attention. Users have different levels of technical knowledge, and their websites may serve different purposes.

Still, there is one question we want to keep asking.

After monitoring, what should users do next?

This does not feel like a matter of simply adding one more feature. It is about deciding how to present results, which words to show first, how much to explain, and where to let users explore more details.

Easy monitoring may not be complete if it only shows that a problem exists.

• An experience where users can see a direction after confirming a problem

• An experience where users do not have to interpret everything on their own

• An experience where users can explain the situation to someone else

We are thinking about monitoring that goes beyond showing status and helps users make a judgment and take the next step.