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Plate PAT·008 · PatternGrid E1 · Rev. 2026-09-14

Confirmation

An interruption that should be reserved for genuinely irreversible actions, because it stops being read when it is routine.

PatternExpert heuristicFoundational

Definition

A confirmation asks the user to approve an action before it proceeds. Its usefulness decays with frequency: a confirmation the user sees daily is dismissed reflexively and provides no protection.

Expert heuristic. A review criterion developed by practitioners. Useful and widely taught, but evaluated by judgement rather than measurement.

On this plate
  1. 1Definition
  2. 2Decide whether you need one
  3. 3Writing the dialog
  4. 4Matching protection to consequence
  5. 5Protection proportional to the loss
  6. 6In practice
  7. 7Commonly confused with
  8. 8Local chart
  9. 9Continue from here

Reach for this when

  • An action cannot be undone.
  • The consequence is significant and wide-reaching.

Common mistakes

  • Confirmation fatigue from routine dialogs.
  • Generic wording.
  • Destructive action styled as primary.
  • Adding a confirmation to a frequent action, which is dismissed reflexively within a week and protects nobody.

Decide whether you need one

  1. 1

    Is it reversible?

    If yes, do not confirm. Provide undo instead.

  2. 2

    Is it recoverable within a window?

    If yes, use a soft delete with a visible restore path.

  3. 3

    Is it irreversible and significant?

    Confirm, naming the specific object and consequence.

  4. 4

    Is it irreversible and catastrophic?

    Require the user to type the object name, which forces deliberate attention.

Writing the dialog

Do

  • Put the consequence in the heading: 'Delete 14 files permanently?'
  • Label the action button with the verb, not 'OK'.
  • Say what cannot be undone, and what can.
  • Make cancel visually secondary but easy to hit.

Do not

  • Ask 'Are you sure?' with no information.
  • Style the destructive action as the primary button by default.
  • Confirm reversible actions.
  • Use a confirmation to compensate for a mis-tap-prone layout. Fix the layout.

Matching protection to consequence

ActionProtectionWhy not more
Reversible, frequentNothing, plus undoA prompt here trains people to dismiss prompts
Reversible, rareUndo, and a clear confirmation messageThe message is the record of what happened
Irreversible, low valueOne dialogue naming the objectNaming is what prevents the wrong-item error
Irreversible, high valueType the name to confirmDeliberate friction, proportional to the loss
Irreversible, affects othersDialogue plus a stated scopeThe reader needs to know who else is affected

Protection proportional to the loss

Reversible, frequentNo prompt at all. Undo afterwards.Reversible, rareA message saying what happened, with undo.IrreversibleOne dialogue, naming the object and the scope.CatastrophicType the name. Deliberate friction, proportional to the loss.Friction is a budget. Spend it where the loss is real, and nowhere else.
Every step up costs every user something. A product that applies the bottom row everywhere has trained its readers to clear dialogues without reading them.

In practice

  1. i.

    Type-to-confirm

    Developer tools

    Requiring the exact name of the resource before deletion is friction proportional to consequence. Applying it to routine actions would be absurd, which is the point.

  2. ii.

    Are you sure, about what

    Naming the object

    A confirmation that does not name what is being deleted asks the reader to remember which row they clicked. The name is the entire protective value of the dialogue.

Commonly confused with

Close neighbours that get substituted for each other. The difference is stated first, then the condition that picks one over the other.

vs.

Undo

Pattern

A way back after the action has already happened.

Key difference

Confirmation asks before, and taxes every action to catch the rare mistake. Undo forgives after, and costs nothing when the reader was right. Reach for confirmation only where undo is genuinely impossible.

Use Confirmation when

  • The action truly cannot be reversed, such as a permanent deletion.
  • It is rare enough that the prompt will still be read.
  • The consequence reaches beyond the reader, as with sending or publishing.

Use Undo when

  • The previous state can be restored.
  • The action is frequent, and a prompt would be dismissed by reflex.
  • You want people to explore without fear of breaking something.

Learn about Undo

Local chart

PAT·008 · Region III · Grid E1

This entry and the entries it is stated to connect with. Each line is labelled with what the connection means.

Framing EffectBIAS·003 · PRINCIPLES BEHIND THISError PreventionHEUR·005 · PRINCIPLES BEHIND THISUser Control and FreedomHEUR·003 · PRINCIPLES BEHIND THISPeak-End RuleLAW·007 · PRINCIPLES BEHIND THISForgivenessPRIN·006 · PRINCIPLES BEHIND THISModal DialogCMP·010 · OFTEN USED WITHDestructive ActionsPAT·009 · OFTEN USED WITHUndoPAT·022 · ALTERNATIVE APPROACHButton and Action LabelsWRT·008 · RELATED CONCEPTConfirmation and Destructive CopyWRT·012 · RELATED CONCEPTMicrocopyWRT·001 · RELATED CONCEPT

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.

Applies when you are designing

A CheckoutAuthenticationSettings

Principles behind this

The reasoning this solution is an application of.

Often used with

These usually appear in the same screen or the same decision.

Related concept

Connected closely enough to change how you apply this.