Universal criteria for good reminders—the five `Cs'
| Conspicuous | A good reminder must be able to catch the actor's attention at the critical time |
| Contiguous | A good reminder should be positioned as close as possible in time and space to the location of the necessary action |
| Context | A good reminder should provide information about the “when” and “where” of the item to be remembered |
| Content | A good reminder should provide sufficient information regarding what has to be done |
| Count | A good reminder should allow the actor to count off the number of discrete actions/tasks that need to be done |