lamina-error-handling

name	lamina-error-handling
description	Error and recovery UX in scenarios — slips vs mistakes, root cause in design not actors. Use when mapping failure scenarios in run.json.
metadata	{"lamina":{"id":"error-handling","problems":["error message design","slip vs mistake diagnosis","recovery UX"],"related":["lamina-forms","lamina-edge-cases","lamina-feedback-and-status"],"tags":["audit-default"]}}

Error Handling (agent-native)

Every failure mode gets a scenarios[] entry with actor-visible recovery — never blame the actor in copy or findings.

Contract encoding

scenarios:
  - id: venue-conflict
    category: conflict
    trigger:
      operation: assign venue
      when: concurrent_edit
    ux: error_state
    recovery: refresh and retry; show who holds lock

Error type	Design response
Slip (right goal, wrong execution)	Undo, constraints, immediate feedback
Mistake (wrong goal/plan)	Better signifiers, conceptual model in copy

Checklists

1. "Human error" is design failure until proven otherwise.
2. Preserve actor input on recoverable failures.
3. Message: what happened → why (plain language) → next action.
4. No error codes without human explanation.
5. Automation failures: actor kept informed (no silent mode switches).

Verify checks

• Trigger each failure scenario on live product (actor walk or probe).
• Double-submit / race scenarios (idempotency-concurrency).
• Actor walk reports confusion at recovery step → finding.

Anti-patterns

• Blame-the-user copy.
• Alert fatigue — warnings dismissed become slip enablers.
• Modal for recoverable batch errors.
• Training docs substituting for error-proofing.

Related

• Edge Cases
• Forms
• Feedback And Status