Move 'could not log you in'-message closer to the actual login button

[pietervdvn]

Problem

I did a user test where the user didn't know their password anymore. They didn't immediatly notice the error message on top of the page.

I propose to place the error message closer to the login form

Description

No response

Screenshots

[mmd-osm]

For discussion: it might be easier to show an error like on the following screenshot. The error message could be "Unknown username or password" for both fields, regardless if the username, password or both are wrong.
Would that be an option as well?

[tomhughes]

It's not really correct to highlight either field though because the error is that the pair taken together do not form valid credentials.

Equally we don't really want to use a non-standard error message format on this one screen - the message bar at the top is standard across the site.

[AntonKhorev]

One way to move the message closer to the inputs is to remove the globe image when errors happen.

[pietervdvn]

One way to move the message closer to the inputs is to remove the globe image when errors happen.

Which would cause a major and very confusing shift in layout.

[AntonKhorev]

Is the shift going to be necessarily confusing? The initial problem was a user not noticing the message. Surely they'll notice something after the shift.

The amount of shifting can be compensated by the message size. If the message height is about the same as the replaced image size, there won't be any noticeable shift. That's probably too high for a message, but still we can make it larger for a smaller shift.