Error prevention in UX: how Facebook and Gmail get it right

In user interface (UI) design, it’s important to pay attention to even the minutest of details so that the experience for the user is pleasurable and memorable. Here, you will learn how to use the principle of error prevention to create an awesome user experience (UX). So, if you are interested in going that extra mile for your user, creating an awesome UX and becoming a better UX designer, then read on.

Written by Siddharth Gulati

Error prevention is one of the 10 usability heuristics proposed by Jakob Nielsen. To put it in Nielsen’s words, error prevention includes the following:

“Even better than good error messages is a careful design which prevents a problem from occurring in the first place. Either eliminate error-prone conditions or check for them and present users with a confirmation option before they commit to the action”.

Essentially, it involves alerting a user when they’re making an error, with the intention to make it easy for them to do whatever it is they are doing without making a mistake. The main reason this principle of error prevention is important is that we humans are prone to- and will always make mistakes. From a UX standpoint, it becomes even more important as:

• In today’s age of information overload, a user is always burdened with tons of information and can be easily distracted. So, the chances of making mistakes are even higher. Consequently:
  * People don’t always see or read everything on the screen.
  * People make mistakes when typing, clicking etc.

So, the burden falls on us as responsible UX designers to be able to prevent users from making these mistakes as often as possible without interrupting their workflow.

To put this in context, let’s take an example of Mailchimp, a leading American email marketing…