What to change
Ask the supplier to distinguish leaving an unfinished request from completing it, with a clear way to keep editing when a departure would discard useful work.
A worked example
Illustrative example
A visitor halfway through a long request sees options to Continue editing or Discard this request. Continuing restores the exact section they were using.
Why this matters to your practice
Cancellation should be easy to understand in both directions. A visitor who clicked by mistake needs to keep working; someone who has decided to leave needs a clear exit. Use words that describe the consequence, such as Discard this request, where that is genuinely what happens. Ask the supplier to show both choices with a partly completed form. A warning becomes useful when meaningful work is at stake, not when it interrupts every harmless move around your website.
A practical review example
A patient may follow a help link and discover that it takes them away from the form. Ask your supplier what happens to their answers and whether the return route is understandable. Where a warning is useful, it should say what will be lost and offer clear choices. Test choosing to stay as well as leave. The warning should protect a meaningful task without trapping visitors or appearing unnecessarily after a form has already been submitted.
How to check the result
Accept when both choices behave as described and accidental activation does not silently destroy substantial unfinished work.
A mistake to avoid
Do not display a disruptive warning on every ordinary page change if no meaningful unsaved work exists.
Turn reading into a next step
Your action checklist
Work through these checks with your team or supplier. Tick the ones you have resolved and leave unknowns open.
Record what you know, what is still missing and the answer you need from your team or supplier.
Use project decisions only, without personal, patient or confidential details. Entries stay in this page and are not submitted to Kay & Co. Copy or download before leaving; this page does not save your notes.
Further reading
These sources provide background for the topic. The practice examples and checklist are illustrative planning suggestions from Kay & Co.
Related guides
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