← Unit 3 · Checklist Design Principles
Usability: length, roles and recovery
15 min
0/1 practice
- Keep checklists short enough to use.
- Assign roles.
- Design for interruption and error recovery.
A checklist that takes too long gets skipped. Break long lists at natural pause points — before leaving the lab, before engine start, before launch — and keep each section short.
Assign a role to every crew step. 'Somebody check the airspace' means nobody does.
Plan for interruption: sections with clear names, a visible 'where we stopped', and a rule that an interrupted section restarts from its top.
Knowledge check
You're interrupted halfway through a section. What's the safest way to resume?
Try it in the Lab
Open the Engineering Lab and watch the design analysis react as you write. It flags vague words, compound steps and missing verification — the same principles you just practiced.
Finish every practice activity to complete this lesson.