Forms are generally used to retrieve user input such as text, selected radio button, selected checkboxes and actions like pushing a button
207
votes
12answers
36k views
Should I use Yes/No or Ok/Cancel on my message box?
Semantically, the Yes/No buttons are roughly equivalent to the Ok/Cancel buttons, but in general what would you recommend to use? Should I always use Yes/No or always use Ok/Cancel? Or does it depend ...
143
votes
18answers
33k views
Is this rotating cube interface user-friendly?
I'm working on a prototype for an innovative form interface, where different parts of the form are shown on different sides of a cube. The cube rotates, and the user can fill it out as the cube spins. ...
121
votes
23answers
13k views
OK/Cancel on left/right?
Should OK button be on left of Cancel button or vice versa?
Are there any studies suggesting either of the solutions?
77
votes
8answers
6k views
Why might right aligned field labels be better?
For the longest time, I've used left-aligned labels in my forms, like this:
I did this because I thought having the labels left aligned made it easier for readers to scan the list of labels.
...
71
votes
12answers
9k views
Removing placeholder text on focus
Chrome and Safari remove placeholder text after pressing first key in the text input.
Firefox and Opera remove placeholder text immediately after focusing the text input.
Which approach is better ...
52
votes
16answers
4k views
Do you need a search button with a search box?
On websites with a search box, should you add a button they can click on, or will users understand a search box like on this site?
The target group is not very technical, such as women aged 40-60.
48
votes
12answers
2k views
How can I guard against users accidentally sending emails without attachments?
I often dash off emails to people and still I forget attachments. I am using an email client which does keyword sniffing, e.g. if I type 'attachment' or similar it will pop up a warning, but more ...
47
votes
13answers
5k views
What is best practice for designing form error messages?
I've seen quite a lot of research on form design, but so far, I haven't come across any studies on error message design best practices. The only piece of advice seems to be that each error should ...
44
votes
13answers
2k views
Best UI to allow expert users to enter an ip address? (IPv4)
I am working on a web application which requires users to enter an IPv4 address (in dotted-quad decimal notation) for most of the primary tasks they need to perform. Our primary target "user" is a ...
38
votes
20answers
3k views
Do I really need a login button?
We've been having a discussion in the office surrounding a login page we're developing for a new web application. The web application is in intranet-based application, and is mainly used by users who ...
37
votes
8answers
1k views
How do we stop users overpaying in financial web forms?
Submitting my online council tax payment last week, I made a mistake. Instead of specifying £63.00 in a freetext payment field (about $100USD), I missed the dot and am now poorer by £6,300 (about ten ...
33
votes
8answers
2k views
How much information should you ask for when users register?
So the company wants all the information it can get on the users of its site, but how much should be asked for upon registration?
On one hand, it would be easier for the users to enter only personal ...
32
votes
11answers
10k views
Why is it impossible to deselect HTML “radio” inputs?
Previous title: Default behavior of HTML “radio” inputs: Did they get it wrong?
In HTML, there are currently two types of "checkbox" style controls:
Checkbox: Allows toggling on/off, multiple ...
31
votes
6answers
2k views
Should “Like us on Facebook” be a required field on a form?
I came across a Facebook app/tab for a brand that required that the person Like the brand before being able to submit the form. I'm used to normal "like-gates" in which a splash screen is shown saying ...
31
votes
8answers
2k views
Merging firstname/last name into one field
I am entertaining the notion of a single field for name entry on our scheduling web app. I think this is an excellent case for a "forgiving format" to make it easy to enter their names quickly.
I ...
30
votes
9answers
1k views
Have I missed anything from my list of web form best practices?
So I have been putting together a list of best practices to apply to forms recently and there is a lot of conflicting research out there. I have been combing everything from blogs through to HCI ...
29
votes
8answers
4k views
Is a cancel button necessary in a web form?
Personally I have never used it. I don't put information in a form and then decide everything needs to be cleared. I would edit one field.
Plus cancel in a UI suggests canceling an action which is in ...
28
votes
10answers
1k views
Should you place the “add a comment” form above or below the list of comments?
There seems to be very little consistency across most sites when it comes to placing the comment form.
Which do you think is the most usable, above the comments list or below?
Above the list:
...
28
votes
9answers
3k views
Is a confirm email address field still considered a best practice?
Having an input field to confirm an email address is pretty standard. However, I would like to know if using a confirm email address field still considered a best practice.
The Email/Confirm email ...
27
votes
11answers
4k views
Most User-Friendly Form Fields for Entering Date/Time?
What are the different ways to have fields in an application for date, time, or both? What are the pros and cons for each?
The most common seem to be a combination of 2–3 drop-downs, or some form ...
25
votes
17answers
5k views
Form for inputting operating hours of a business
I am designing an interface where restaurants need to input their operating hours. I am thinking of using a slider control for timings for a single day, and then let the user choose days of the week ...
25
votes
4answers
767 views
Multiple lists on one screen — best approach?
Let's say I have a profile screen with two lists: one for Friends and another for Hobbies. This is just an example. It could as well be a Customer screen with Suppliers and Orders. I'm looking to ...
25
votes
7answers
743 views
How do you sort a list of languages?
A website is available in 100 languages. There is a form to select a language, and it includes these 8
English
Русский
日本語
עברית
العربية
বিষ্ণুপ্রিযা় মণিপুরী
მარგალური
አማርኛ
Normally, I would ...
24
votes
14answers
4k views
How Yes or No Questions Should be Represented in Forms
This question started out on the Pro Webmasters SE. See: http://webmasters.stackexchange.com/q/8578/1847
I am a web developer. My designer gave me a mock-up of a web form. In it, there are several ...
24
votes
5answers
684 views
Is constantly updating the formatting of a numeric input box a good idea?
I have a numeric input box, as part of a form. I'm implementing delimited splitting, to make large numbers easier to read. ie, 1000000 would become 1,000,000.
Would it be a good idea to automatically ...
23
votes
17answers
719 views
All my users are from Afghanistan or how to get users to correctly fill out a form
I have a website with a form users fill out to create an account. Following advice from this forum and other places I am asking for only the minimum required information to create an account ie. ...
23
votes
5answers
3k views
Dropdown vs radio button
User have to choose type of food (from 3 or 4 choices) in our application. Default selection is used in 60 - 70% of cases. What will be better: dropdown or radio buttons?
23
votes
4answers
2k views
Studies showing that the more form fields there are the less conversions you will get
Same old story really; another client is requesting that they need x number of fields on their Contact Us form, and no amount of explaining that less=more will suffice without providing objective ...
21
votes
10answers
1k views
When client and server side validations occur, doesn't it make for a better UX to only do server validations?
I find a problem on the MVC4 project I am working on now, using Fluent Validation, in that some validations are delegated to the jQuery client side validation, while some, such as the NotNull rule for ...
21
votes
5answers
779 views
Auto Advance to Next Field
When is it appropriate to 'auto advance' from one text field to the next, as in phone numbers and SSN?
21
votes
10answers
994 views
DD/MM/YYYY - do people know what that means?
Just finished reading Caroline Jarrett and Gerry Gaffney's Forms that Work and I noticed that while the publisher used a screen shot on the front cover with that date format the authors didn't ...
21
votes
5answers
561 views
Are verbs necessary on field labels for a survey?
This is slightly different than this question regarding a small form. I have a multi-page survey that can take up to 10 minutes to complete.
Right now, all of our prompts start with verbs, but I feel ...
21
votes
6answers
7k views
What should be the default option of a required dropdown list?
Given that there is no logically default animal from the list of animals below, what should be the "Default Value" below, according to best practice?
<label for="animal">Animal ...
20
votes
12answers
2k views
Should date validation allow “091011”?
Should I allow users to input the MMDDYY or MMDDYYYY format for a date?
That is, should any date validation logic not trigger a validation error if the user just wants to put in the numbers without ...
20
votes
3answers
1k views
HTML label association with inputs; bad UX?
I'm a web developer having a weird UX issue. When I build HTML forms, I ensure that every input's label is implemented through a <label></label> tag and that each label uses the for ...
19
votes
4answers
576 views
Is it a good/acceptable practice to combine checkboxes with radio buttons for one question?
I work on a form, in which there are questions allowing either multiple choices or selecting just one. An example:
Which of the sweeties do you like:
[ ] chocolate
[ ] lollipops
[ ] cookies
( ) ...
19
votes
3answers
2k views
Input form label alignment top or left?
Although I have researched on input form label alignment, I need solid suggestion on when to use form label alignment top and when to use left and why?
For example in the below form username and ...
19
votes
1answer
1k views
On forms, is inline placeholder text better than a label outside each field?
I am familiar with research on label placement to the left or above. I tend to go with right justified with the label to the left of the field for my form designs.
However, inline placeholder text ...
19
votes
3answers
2k views
Best pattern for international address forms?
I've noticed an emerging pattern in web-based forms is to put the country field before city/state. This is contrary to how we would normally fill out an address on paper, but it allows us to have ...
18
votes
12answers
987 views
Should form labels be placed inside of input boxes and slide out of the way?
Is it good idea to put form labels inside input boxes? In this case, the labels slide out of the way when the user clicks on the box.
See here live example of form
18
votes
10answers
8k views
Alternatives to checkboxes and radio buttons in web-based surveys?
I've been tasked with designing a simple questionnaire design with a lot of different types of questions. I've been taking a lot of web-based surveys myself as well as testing some with users. The ...
18
votes
10answers
4k views
What's the best way to highlight a Required field on a web form before submission?
This seems subjective, and it is; a client of mine would like me to highlight the required fields on the web forms in their application with a red asterisk, and I'm looking for an alternative since ...
18
votes
5answers
979 views
When form submission fails, password field gets blanked, why is that the case?
I've seen many registration forms where if fields don't pass validation, the password fields are blanked as well.
Why is this the case? I understand why you'd blank the password in a login form, but ...
17
votes
9answers
858 views
Should radio buttons be pre-selected?
I am working on a re-design for a eCommerce site and they have a section where they offer a free gift card if the user makes a purchase over $1000. The idea of the gift card is to get users to ...
17
votes
7answers
2k views
What makes a good form?
I've recently been given the challenge to create a preferably 'fun and engaging'-form, consisting of about 40-50 fields. The form consists of four parts, Employee-contact-info, Employment-description, ...
16
votes
4answers
864 views
What’s the use of vertical guide lines when filling out forms using handwriting?
I’m quite fast making shopping lists via handwriting, and I think I’m not alone using small notes instead of trying to make lists in my phone. But when I come to the store and they give me a discount ...
16
votes
6answers
484 views
What should ENTER do?
On a web form, what should happen when the user presses the ENTER key?
I'm writing a sign-up form - name, email, password, sign-up button: the usual sort of thing. Since I'm using JavaScript, and the ...
16
votes
5answers
667 views
Is it better to have an icon in front of validation messages?
As you can see in the above image, there is a validation icon in front of the text. This is unnecessary, but I thought it might be good to catch the eye.
If there is no icon, it's still clear ...
16
votes
7answers
942 views
Should “gender” be required, or is there a better way to collect this information?
I believe in keeping a registration form as simple as possible so that we "grease the skids" toward conversion. Every field on our signup form is required, or else we wouldn't ask it. Here's what we ...
16
votes
3answers
501 views
How can I make a form look simpler?
I am designing a web-based application where you can add entries, and each of them have some 20 fields.
For the most part, after adding an entry, it won't have to be edited afterwards. But the option ...
