Error Recovery—People Will Make Mistakes
Isn’t it nice when life gives you a safety net?
Okay, maybe that’s a little broad. But hear me out…
When it comes to digital systems, I’d like mine in bubble wrap.
Just a crash pad for when things go sideways.
A soft landing when the app doesn’t understand my intention.
Is that too much to ask? 🤕
Ever filled out a long online application—pages of data entry, careful uploads, detailed fields?
Then hit “Submit”…
…and nothing happened?
You wait. Click again. Refresh. Curse. 😡
Then you find out the page timed out—silently—and none of your effort had been saved. No feedback, no recovery—just a do-over. 🫠
Here’s the truth: no matter how smart or careful your users are, mistakes will happen.
They’ll click “Delete” instead of “Download.”
Close a tab before saving.
Mis-type a number and hit “Submit.”
And that’s not a user problem, but a #Designproblem...if the system doesn’t help them recover.
Don Norman in 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴, reminds us: people mess up. Great design helps them bounce back fast.
In the real world:
• 🧯 Fire extinguishers next to the stove
• 🔁 Double-checks before launching rockets
• 🧵 Seam rippers in sewing kits—because even pros stitch something backwards
• 🛠️ Duct tape, because… duct tape
Software should offer the same kind of backup:
• ❓ “Are you sure?” prompts
• ↩️ Real Undo functions (not just “Close without saving”)
• 🪃 Easy ways to revert
• 🔐 #Guardrails for high-risk actions, like multi-step confirmation before purging data
Because when recovery is hard (or impossible), users #Panic...or worse, they give up. 😵💫
Design for Graceful Recovery 🤕➡️😌
Mistakes are part of the journey. Good software reduces a crisis to a speed bump.
Ask yourself:
• Can users fix it without calling IT?
• Is the fix obvious—or buried in a manual?
• Does the system help—or just say “Error” and shrug? 🤷…like it’s thinking, “You’re the one who clicked it.”
When systems make it safe to be human:
• 😌 Users feel less #Stress
• 🧠 They stay in #fFow
• 📉 You avoid expensive #Downtime
Why This Matters to Business Leaders 💼💡
You don’t see every mistake. But your support desk does.
If there’s no easy way to undo a mistake:
• ⌛ People freeze like a deer in headlights
• 📞 IT gets more calls than your sales team
• 😓 And trust in the system? Poof—gone faster than unsaved work
But when recovery is fast:
• ✅ People#Experiment and #Learn
• ✅ Work keeps moving
• ✅ Systems feel
#Reliable—even when users aren’t perfect
So next time you review a system, ask:
If someone makes a mistake… can they fix it?
Because good design doesn’t just prevent errors—it hands you the eraser.
Next up: Prototyping isn’t time-wasting—not prototyping is. Stay tuned.
