Preview

actions.preview

Show a preview or summary of what will happen when the user performs the action.

Description

Show a preview or summary of what will happen before commit when the result is hard to picture from the label alone. Committing blind forces undo, redo, or regret after the fact. Use preview for consequential or visually opaque changes so people can judge the outcome first. Skip it when the outcome is already crystal clear from the control wording and context.

When to use

Committing an action whose result is hard to imagine without a sample.

Not when

Trivial commits whose outcome is already obvious from the label alone.

Agent hint

Offer a preview or summary of the result before commit when outcomes are opaque.

Pass

A preview or summary of the result is available before the person commits.

Fail

The action commits with no preview or summary of what will happen.

Citations

Designing Interfaces 3e ch. Doing Things — Preview (Tidwell, Brewer, Valencia)

https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/designing-interfaces-3rd/9781492051954/