Explain what happens when a form is refreshed

What to change

Agree the intended refresh behaviour for this particular form and communicate any meaningful loss of work before it catches visitors out.

A worked example

Illustrative example

Refreshing an unfinished simple enquiry restarts it with an explicit explanation. A supported saved draft instead returns to its current section with retained answers identified.

How to check the result

Accept when observed refresh behaviour matches the agreed product behaviour and the resulting screen does not pretend lost work remains complete.

A mistake to avoid

Do not describe information as saved merely because it survives one browser refresh during a single test.

Your action checklist

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 recordComplete part of a test journey, refresh the page and record which answers survive. Repeat on the first, middle and review steps.Ask the supplier to explain the persistence boundary in plain language. Distinguish a short public enquiry from an authenticated draft with different expectations.Check the resumed or restarted screen. It should identify its state, avoid showing stale completion marks and provide a clear route to continue.

Evidence, open questions and decisionsNext action and responsible role

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