Error Recovery (UX)

Error recovery in user experience design means helping people get back on track after something goes wrong. If a customer enters an invalid phone number on a landscaping estimate form, the site should explain the issue, preserve the other information already entered, and allow an easy correction. Error prevention tries to avoid mistakes before they happen; error recovery addresses them afterward. Useful recovery messages say what happened and what action to take without blaming the visitor. They also need to be perceivable to people using assistive technology. Even well-designed forms encounter mistakes, so recovery is part of a reliable customer experience.