Brand & design · Planning worksheet

Component states: design beyond the ideal screen

Illustrative situation

A form component looks complete in design files but has no defined error, loading or empty state.

The decision

Specify the states people will encounter when the system is busy, incomplete or unavailable. Review wording and interaction as well as appearance.

Rehearse this before accepting the change

Walk through a fictional failed submission using the component specification.

Use fictional examples and an authorised test environment. Record what happened, the evidence you inspected and any issue that still needs a responsible owner.

Choose a useful measure

Track states left for developers to invent during implementation.

Agree the definition and baseline with the team doing the work. Review the result over a comparable period and note other changes that could affect it.

Your planning worksheet

Use these checks to prepare a discussion with your team or supplier. Tick a check when you have recorded the decision or evidence, rather than when a feature has simply been promised.

Decisions to record

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Further reading

These primary sources provide additional context for the project decisions above.

Related decisions

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