Design Principle
Redundant entry increases cognitive load, errors, and abandonment, especially for assistive technology users.
Principle
Redundant entry increases cognitive load, errors, and abandonment, especially for assistive technology users.
Design action
Reuse known information with confirmation and edit paths; keep summaries across steps and avoid asking for the same content again.
Examples
Positive example: Multi-step forms, checkout, applications, and account profiles already know some user information. Counterexample: Each step repeatedly asks for name, email, or address.
Apply when
Multi-step forms, checkout, applications, and account profiles already know some user information. Users need to judge state, scope, risk, or next action quickly.
Source notes
Source note: Synthesized from W3C WCAG 2.2, Apple Accessibility, IBM Carbon Accessibility, and accessibility practices in major design systems. WCAG 2.2: https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG22/ WCAG Contrast Minimum: https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG21/Understanding/contrast-minimum.html WCAG Non-text Contrast: https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG22/Understanding/non-text-contrast.html Apple HIG Accessibility: https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guidelines/accessibility Carbon Accessibility Overview: https://carbondesignsystem.com/guidelines/accessibility/overview/
Agent Directive
Reuse known information with confirmation and edit paths; keep summaries across steps and avoid asking for the same content again.