Failure state
also: failure states, error state, error states
What your app shows and does when something goes wrong, like an error message, a retry button, or a blank screen.
The condition a system or interface enters when an operation fails: what the user sees, what data is kept or lost, and whether recovery is possible. Designed failure states degrade gracefully; undesigned ones crash, hang, or show misleading output.
A vending machine that runs out of chips. A good one shows "Sold out" and returns your money. A bad one keeps your coins and shows nothing.
Agents usually build the happy path, where everything works. Asking about failure states makes them decide what users see when the network drops or a payment fails.
I've added failure states to the upload screen: a clear message if the file is too large, a retry option if the network drops, and the draft is kept either way.
For the booking form, list every failure state: payment declined, slot taken, network down. For each, tell me what the user sees and whether their input is kept.
Thinking an error message alone counts as handling failure. A good failure state also keeps the user's work and gives them a way forward.