Designing so that mistakes are hard to make in the first place, rather than only warning about them afterwards. Examples include greying out invalid options or asking for confirmation before a destructive action.
Synonyms
- mistake prevention
- poka-yoke
Related terms
In plain words
- stopping people from messing up before it happens
- designing so you can't make the wrong move
Usage example
Disabling the submit button until the form was valid was a simple act of error prevention.
Don't confuse with…
- error messageError prevention stops the mistake before it occurs; an error message explains a mistake that already happened.
Categories
- Usability principles