Edu’s quick notes

Reset and Cancel buttons considered harmful

While working on a couple of forms for an upcoming web I decided they deserve a "Cancel" button. Searching for a way to implement it I arrived to the Reset / Cancel Button Considered Harmful by Jakob Nielsen, the usability guru.

The main idea is that a Cancel/Reset button is not necessary because the user will use the back button if they decide not to save the form. Also, more buttons mean more clutters, in this case unnecessary.

Of course, these are online guidelines and in a shopping cart or in a multi-step form it may be desirable to have a remove and cancel, respectively, buttons.