A way for users to put information into a computer system.

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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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
6
votes
4answers
2k views

Best Web UI for Large Amounts of Data Input

I'm looking for a good solution when users need to enter large amounts of data into a web application. Example A store owner wants to enter 30-40 new products into the system every month. The ...
2
votes
1answer
237 views

What is the best graphical interface for inputting a list of pairs?

I want to create a graphical interface for inputing skill build orders for an RPG game. A skill build is an ordered list of (skill, number) pairs, like this (see footnote): (A x1) -> (B *) -> ...
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?
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 ...
22
votes
11answers
4k views

Better way for users to select a date range

In my application, users select a date range for which results are required. The UI looks something like this: My users don't like this, because the date picker requires them to select a specific ...
13
votes
8answers
1k views

App interface for changing relational percentages

Has anyone ever seen or used a good app interface (web or mobile) for changing relational percentages? E.g I need to change 3 amounts to make up £100 and I need to be able to use any permutation to do ...
10
votes
3answers
408 views

FORMS: When to use dropdowns, and when to use dynamic lists?

Interesting that I couldn't find a discussion of this already. When should we use dropdown selects, and when should we use dynamic lists (updated as you type) in web forms? My opinion: Dropdowns ...
6
votes
2answers
126 views

Is there any research into the cost of switching between using a keyboard and a mouse?

My intuition and own experience tells me keyboard shortcut keys can be faster than using the mouse. However, some tasks like browsing the internet or a folder hierarchy truly benefit from using a ...
3
votes
3answers
330 views

“Modernizing” legacy applications and legacy users

I'm tasked with modernizing many older UNIX based applications to new, web-based applications. The UNIX applications are completely keyboard-based (ie. "04" to select the fourth application, "Enter" ...
2
votes
5answers
218 views

Multi Language Name Input

We are developing a Client Application that supports multiple languages. We have some MasterData that requires to have a localized Name (e.g a Product is named different in every location). When ...
1
vote
4answers
208 views

Column headers in a table functioning as input boxes for filtering

Is it a good idea to use column headers as input boxes for filtering the results in a table?
19
votes
7answers
2k views

Best way to offer a large amount of selectable options (without using Javascript)?

I come from stackoverflow and have no answers for this one, so I turn to the UI guys for assistance. Let's say I have a library application that allows a user (librarian) to add a book to the ...
13
votes
4answers
399 views

When is it a good idea to perform actions on mouse-down *as opposed to click/mouse-up*?

I've grown used to the GUI paradigm of pre-select on mouse-down, action on mouse-up. In fact, I rely on it, sometimes canceling an unwanted action after mouse-down by dragging outside of the click ...
12
votes
5answers
1k views

Credit Card input format

Somewhere, in one of the Usability books I read ( probably Donald Norman ), there was a suggestion that the normal format for entering credit cards was wrong. The usual format is 16 characters in a ...
11
votes
4answers
149 views

Should you optimize mobile experiences based on individual handedness?

In abbood's question "How to implement a stack exchange style voting for mobile?" he answers his own question with the following mock-up: My immediate thought was that the up-vote control was on ...
4
votes
3answers
250 views

Windows directory picker: why need an extra button?

The standard directory pickers are as follows. They have a long input box with the current chosen directory, a '...' button next to it that opens a directory picker to chosen a new direcotry. Why is ...
4
votes
1answer
209 views

Cursor position and movement in Bidi Input.

In the case of Bidi input, where both RTL and LTR types languages can be mixed together, what should be the cursor position? And what should be the movement of the cursor with Home and End buttons? ...
3
votes
3answers
166 views

How to design the input field for recipe ingredients

I've spent a lot of time thinking about the most efficient way to handle a user inputting a recipe into a form. There are a couple different options I've seen across the internet, from offering up a ...
3
votes
5answers
585 views

Date picker subtleties: Input year by using numeric keys

We are developing a date picker and have run into a problem related to interpretation of user input. Suppose you have a date picker as the one in the picture below and the user is to change the year ...
2
votes
4answers
285 views

Combining email and phone inputs into a single text field

Let's say you want to combine both email and phone input into a single text field because you require either or, not both. What's the best way would you approach this? As far as making it clear ...
2
votes
0answers
194 views

Are “reset” buttons redundant? [duplicate]

Possible Duplicate: Is a cancel button necessary in a web form? Are form "reset" buttons redundant? If not, why not? Give me a case where they are completey accepted, useful and maybe even ...