Users of information technology (IT) commonly encounter exception messages during their interactions with application programs. Exception messages are an important element in accounting application controls which address exposures within specific computer application programs such as payroll, sales processing, and cash disbursements. Exception messages are similar in purpose to the warning messages that appear on consumer products and equipment (e.g., cigarettes, power tools, etc.), in various work environments (e.g., around machinery), and on chemicals. This manuscript reviews the normative elements and information that are included in product, chemical, and environment warnings and proposes that these elements and information should also be included in IT and application control exception messages. It is argued that including these elements will increase the effectiveness, informativeness, and consistency of exception messages. Additionally, we report the results of an experiment carried out to determine if IT and application control exception messages designed to conform to the normative elements, by specifically including descriptive icons, improves user interactions. The results of the experiment confirm that user's behavioral compliance increases when interacting with a system that incorporates iconic-based exception messages
