There's a post just a short distance down that twitter thread to a simple layout change that would have made it difficult to choose the wrong option by simply categorizing the options properly. But I'm betting that list is autogenerated on a hardcoded template from some goddamn database somewhere in this enterprise app that makes a simple layout change like that a nightmare to implement.

Compare M. Milan's design to the mainframe menu screens I have listed at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16158878 .

When someone is in a crisis situation, their actions have to be the SAME as a drill. Making someone do or type something different when things are already hectic is likely to send them into brain-lock.

The solution is something extra that pops up AFTER doing everything the same that says "Sending real alert in 10 ... 9 ... 8 ..." with a "Type: "Abort" in text field to stop".

If the operator brain freezes whether real or fake, the alert still goes out in 10 seconds. If the operator screwed up but doesn't brain-freeze, he can stop the situation.

That's pretty much the best you can do if you're trying to make your drill and your alarm almost identical in order to maximize crisis performance.

I can imagine that when someone accidentally sends out a real alert, the "Oh F" moment will last longer than the 10 seconds you give the operator to type those 5 characters, in the correct order, with shaky fingers.