The guideline
Before an action the site cannot reverse takes effect, such as deleting an account, project, file or saved data, cancelling an order or booking, or sending money or a submission that cannot be recalled, show a confirmation step that names the thing affected and says what the visitor will lose. Make the confirming control a separate action whose label describes the outcome ("Delete project"), and keep the safe choice just as easy to reach and visibly different. Where the site can keep the item recoverable for a while, a bin, a grace period or an undo message, that may replace the confirmation, but tell the visitor how long they have. Do not put a confirmation in front of actions that are easy to reverse; those belong to trust.reversible-actions-offer-undo.
Common failures
- An action the site cannot reverse completes on one click, or after a bare question with identical buttons, without naming the item or what will be lost and without a recovery period.
Where it applies
Where
Disciplines
Devices
Why it matters, how to fix it, and the research behind it
Rubric's full guide adds the reasoning, the fix and the sources for this check, and checks your client's pages against it and hundreds of others. Findings come back worst first.