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I know that a select box takes up less space and is good for lots of options. But should there be any deeper influences to my choice than space? Are there any studies that show users preferring one or the other? There's also the issue of multi-select vs checkboxes in html, which can be discussed here as well, seeing as the answer will probably be the same. |
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I use select when the user doesn't need to know all of the alternative choices available. Autosuggest is useful for a long list. Generally, they know what they want and selects save space. Example: Choose a "State" like California or New York. You would never use radio buttons. I use radio buttons when the alternatives matter. When I want to user to see what they are NOT choosing. Radio buttons allow you to expand the selection and even use longer text. Rule of thumb: If it's a long list or the alternatives aren't that important, use a select. |
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Other than space and the number of options, there really isn't a big difference. One thing I do like about radio buttons is that you can style them to look like large buttons, which can be useful for touch interfaces. If you only have a few options, it would be much easier to push a big button than to push the little dropdown and push the little option. As far as multi-selects vs checkboxes, I really prefer not to use multi-selects. Just because you have to use a key combination along with your mouse click. Many users are unaware of how shortcuts work and would be unable to select multiple options. |
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I was just pondering this myself for an interaction, and think another benefit of radio buttons is can they provide a bit of extra space for support text or explanation about the possible choices. |
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User interface guidelines like from MS, Apple, Gnome etc give usually quite clear suggestions on this:
In addition you can use select box when you have to save space or default choices is usually good enough, so users seldom have to look at their choices. Thirdly it can be used for days of week, months etc. That is things where you know what choices you have without being shown all of them. If I see "February" in a select box I can pretty much guess what all the other options will be. |
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Radio buttons are usually preferable until you have more than couple of options. They only require a single click compared to two. Radio buttons are also better for nesting sub options. |
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If just a few choices, radio buttons win for ease of use and fast selection. using a dropdown select prevents the user from seeing all choices until they get to that field. This question could equally be applied to checkboxes vs multi-selects. |
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