Bots follow instructions perfectly. Humans don't. When your automation breaks, the problem is usually at the human-machine interface.
Common Human-Caused Failures
1. Skipping Required Fields
"I'll add the phone number later" → Later never comes → Automation can't send SMS reminder → No-show
2. Inconsistent Data Entry
"John Smith" vs "Smith, John" vs "J. Smith" → Your automation sees three different people
3. Workarounds That Break Logic
Someone marks a field as "TBD" because they don't know the answer → Your automation tries to schedule "TBD" as an appointment time
4. Ignoring the Process
The automation expects Step A → Step B → Step C. Someone jumps straight to C. Everything downstream breaks.
How to Human-Proof Your Automations
- ✅ Make required fields actually required — No saving without them
- ✅ Use dropdowns instead of free text — Constrain the inputs
- ✅ Validate data format on entry — Catch problems immediately
- ✅ Build in graceful failures — When data is bad, flag it instead of crashing
- ✅ Train your team — They need to understand why the process matters
The best automation accounts for human nature. Expect shortcuts. Plan for chaos.