Destructive-action confirmation — Orbit

Skip to main content

Preventing accidental, hard-to-reverse actions by asking for a deliberate confirmation — without nagging on everything.

Usage

When to use

Actions that are difficult or impossible to undo: delete, remove, archive, discard unsaved changes, revoke access.

When not to use

Reversible actions — prefer an undo affordance over a confirmation dialog. A confirm step on a reversible action is friction with no payoff.
Low-stakes, frequent actions — repeated confirmations train people to click through without reading.

How it works

Trigger a Modal (or Notification Modal) that names the consequence in its title.
The primary Button repeats the exact verb — “Delete project”, not “OK” or “Yes” — and uses destructive styling.
Cancel is the safe default and is easy to reach (including via Escape).
State plainly what will be lost and whether it can be recovered.

Do & don’t

Do

Name the consequence in the dialog title, and label the confirm button with the exact verb — "Delete project", not "OK".
Make cancel the safe, easy default, reachable with Escape.
State plainly what will be lost and whether it can be recovered.
Flag community-facing (Social Point) destructive flows for Guild review before shipping.

Don't

Ask "Are you sure?" — say what will happen. See Confirmation dialogs.
Stack a confirmation on top of another interruption pattern — see the UX Guidelines.
Use a confirmation dialog as a substitute for an undo affordance.

Components: Modal, Notification Modal, Button
Content: Confirmation dialogs