Distinguish saved draft state from completed submission

What to change

Ask the supplier to distinguish saving progress from sending the request through labels, status feedback and the review screen.

A worked example

Illustrative example

A portal reports Draft saved and still shows Review and submit. Only the later completed action produces the request confirmation and reference.

How to check the result

Accept when visitors can tell whether work is merely retained, currently saving, failed to save or fully submitted.

A mistake to avoid

A tick icon shared across several states needs explanatory text; its colour alone cannot convey these different outcomes.

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 recordIn a test account, save an incomplete draft and read every resulting message. Check that none implies the practice has received a finished request.Resume the draft and change an answer. Verify the save indicator describes the latest action and does not remain falsely positive while a new save is pending.Complete the final submission separately. Compare its confirmation with the draft message and confirm the remaining required action was always evident.

Evidence, open questions and decisionsNext action and responsible role

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