Universal Principles of Design, Revised and Updated

Confirmation

A technique for preventing unintended actions by requiring verification of the actions before they are performed.1

Confirmation is a technique used for critical actions, inputs, or commands. It provides a means for verifying that an action or input is intentional and correct before it is performed. Confirmations are primarily used to prevent a class of errors called slips, which are unintended actions. Confirmations slow task performance, and should be reserved for use with critical or irreversible operations only. When the consequences of an action are not serious, or when actions are completely and easily reversible, confirmations are not needed. There are two basic confirmation techniques: dialog and two-step operation.2

Confirmation ...