Graceful Degradation
When something breaks, the rest still works.
Definition
Designing so that when something fails or is unavailable, the experience remains usable at a reduced level.
Craft convention. True because the industry converged on it. Breaking it costs familiarity, not correctness.
On this plate
In plain language
When something breaks, the rest still works.
Example
A dashboard that shows cached values with an offline marker rather than an empty screen.
Local chart
TERM·121 · Region X · Grid D5
This entry and the entries it is stated to connect with. Each line is labelled with what the connection means.
Continue from here
Each link says what the connection is, so you can tell a principle from an alternative from a thing people mix this up with.
Deeper reading
The full entry behind this definition.
- Empty StatesPAT·010 · Pattern
- Loading StatesPAT·011 · Pattern
- Optimistic UIPAT·013 · Pattern
Related concept
Connected closely enough to change how you apply this.
- Progressive EnhancementTERM·122 · Term
Nearby in the Atlas
Adjacent territory, found through shared tags rather than a stated link.