Hawaii false missile alert: test and live alert paths need separation because confirmation prompts cannot correct a convinced operator
An operator who believed they were running a test sent a real emergency alert to an entire state.
There was a confirmation prompt. It did not help, because someone who is certain about what they are doing reads a confirmation as a formality. The design lesson is that dangerous and routine actions need to be structurally separate rather than distinguished by a dialogue box, because prompts do not correct a mistaken belief.
Checked against the primary source.
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