Destructive Actions

Any action that results in something being permanently destroyed (or difficult to recover/recreate) must prompt the user to confirm the action.

Confirmation step presented in a modal

The confirmation step must include clear messaging that describes the action and its consequences. The user must be able to cancel the action at this point.

What Counts as "Destructive"?

  • Deleting items (photos, reports, lists, projects, users, etc.)
  • Abandoning a process (editing a photo, editing a template, editing in the rich text editor, etc.)

What About Undo?

As long as a confirmation step is presented, there is no need to provide an undo action. However, if technical limitations mean we can't present a confirmation step, we should provide an undo action.