Which words a decision uses¶
One set of words for asking a person, in every product, and how a screen behaves while they decide.
A question is not an approval, but it is the same role¶
An agent that stops to ask ("Which database should the migration target?") needs a person as much as a held push does, so a
question takes the approval role: the orange diamond, the lit card, the place at the top of the queue. The word tells them
apart: Needs approval for a yes or no on an action, Needs input for a question with options or free text. Never a
new shape or a new color for questions; the sixth status is still off. See the ApprovalCard and Question components.
Decision words¶
One set of words for the act, in every product:
| What | Word |
|---|---|
| The status of a held action | Needs approval |
| The status of a question | Needs input |
| The two buttons | Approve and Deny, with the object when it helps: "Approve push", "Deny refund" |
| The stopped status | Denied (the placard) |
| The past tense in a verdict | Approved by Sean, Denied by Sean |
Sign, Decline, Reject and Blocked are retired as UI words for this act, and so is "Needs your signature". Receipts may still say they were signed: a signature is how a receipt proves the decision, not what the person does.
Waiting on others stays grey¶
A request that needs more approvals than it has, where this person has approved or cannot approve, is Waiting on others:
the queued role (a grey ring) with words that say how many, Waiting on 2 others, and a quorum strip that says whose approval
is in. It is not orange, because nobody here is needed; the card is not lit and has no primary action. The moment it
becomes this person's turn it is an approval again. The same goes for a question addressed to someone else.
Alert inhibition¶
Airbus inhibits alerts during takeoff and landing so a crew mid-task is not interrupted by anything that can wait. Airframe
inhibits them during a decision: while a dialog or a drawer is open, or a text field has focus (a deny reason, a steer, an
answer), non-critical notices are held and shown afterwards, in order. A notice about the thing the person is doing, or
about a connection that dropped, is critical and shows at once. MasterCaution is not inhibited; it is the summary the held
notices roll up into. The Toast component and airframe.js implement the rule; a product that writes its own notices follows it.
Part of Status, a chapter of the brand book. See also Data and Products.