Can't speak to the microwave, but there are examples of this kind of UI such as https://github.com/nvbn/thefuck https://github.com/nvbn/thefuck the trade off is

Can't speak to the microwave, but there are examples of this kind of UI such as https://github.com/nvbn/thefuck https://github.com/nvbn/thefuck the trade off is the potential of ambiguity, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_flies_like_an_arrow;_fruit_flies_like_a_banana https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_flies_like_an_arrow;_frui... Your microwave does sound badly designed though.