Error Prevention and Recovery

Design systems that prevent errors before they happen, and when errors do occur, help people recover without shame, confusion, or lost work.

Prevention Strategies

Forgiving Input

• Accept multiple date formats ("15/03/2026", "15 March 2026", "March 15, 2026")
• Accept multiple phone formats ("(555) 123-4567", "555-123-4567", "5551234567")
• Auto-format as the user types
• Case-insensitive matching
• Trim whitespace automatically
• Show format examples next to fields ("e.g., 15/03/2026")