How to help people recover from a form error

Do your best to prevent people from having an error

We aim to design forms that prevent people from making errors when they enter information. For example, we:

• test our forms to identify issues so we can address them before people use them and
• use visual cues so people can see data input requirements before they add their information.
  • We might use hint text to show a person a formatting requirement
  • We could display checkmarks beside items in a list of password requirements to show people when they have met each requirement.
  • We could change a 

Even when we do our best to prevent errors, they still happen. When they do, you must ensure the person filling out the form:

• can see what they did wrong; and
• understand how they can fix it and move on.

How to help people recover from an error

• Follow the online design pattern for error messages.
• Let them know what they did as soon as possible. Nielsen Norman group’s advice is that the inline validation should appear within 500ms after a person has stopped typing.
• Write your error messages in plain language. Your message should sound like a human helping a client and not a robot or machine.