Problem

User entered data or subsidiary processes would be time consuming, difficult or frustrating to reproduce if lost due to accidental user-selected destruction.

Solution

Methods must be provided to protect input and

1) Design and technical systems to avoid this. Save user data for future or recovered entry. Etc. What else??? Or included in the below items already???

2) Implicit protection: Design interactive methods to avoid exit or deletion. E.g. if deleting a field, and the convention in the OS would make an additional delete key press exit the field, and give focus to the next field, do not do this on key repeat, to avoid accidentally deleting multiple fields. Add a pause, or a hard stop, so the user must release and re-press the delete key.

3) Explicit protection: When a single function is provided to clear user entry, provide a method within the screen (not a popup, but something right next to the field or function) to allow recovery of the user-entered data.

Variations

Interaction Details

Presentation Details

Antipatterns

Examples