Existing deficiencies in a system, process, or product that are likely to lead to a mistake down the road.
An Error Trap is an existing deficiency in a system, process, or product that makes it likely that a mistake will occur at some point down the road. If you find yourself saying “well, they’ll just have to know not to do this thing”, that’s an error trap. If there’s a tripping hazard that’s unmitigated, that’s an error trap. Error traps should be avoided. They often aren’t out of sheer laziness.
Examples
- Leaving something unfinished with the intent to “finish it later”
- Leaving exposed sharp edges, or hot surfaces, or other hidden dangers
- Using Lack of Signal is a Bad Signalas a signal
- Having disconnected dependencies of any time, really