If I have a stepper where the 1st step is done, can I give the user the chance to edit this steps in the next ones?

Question

I'm working on a stepper with 3 steps, where the first one is adding your address. Once the user move forward to the next step, can I give them the chance to edit that address but without make them go back to the first step? Like for example opening a sidebar and let them edit the address there?

Is it a bad practice if I make the user go back to step 1 when is already at the second or at the third one?

we don't have a Previous button on our design, so I believe it's not okay to make them go back, it's unexpectable. But I'd like to hear your opinions

Answer 1

This problem falls under Nielsen's usability heuristic #3. It states:

Users often make mistakes or change their minds. Allow them to exit a flow or undo their last action and go back to the system’s previous state.

Source

I would highly suggest allowing user to be able to go back to previous step as it would provide user with a control of the flow.

Answer 2

Like it was already pointed out, you need to allow users to undo their previous action, so from this perspective it is not bad practice. Just be careful which pattern you use for this action. Opening a sidebar (without knowing more details) sounds weird to me. Maybe try breadcrumbs to allow users to jump between steps.

Answer 3

I usually know a three-step procedure under the name of "wizard" (a stepper for me was a control allowing to enter integer numbers - but I've seen many examples of steppers-like-wizards now - thanks for providing this learning opportunity).

Typically, wizards have a representation of the steps as their top visual feature (example). The system shows which steps have been completed, and what the current step is.

You can easily use the previous, completed steps as navigation anchors to go back and correct the data.