Questions tagged [validation]

when and how best to give feedback to users about invalid entries in data they have provided.

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159 votes
19 answers
66k 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 ...
Virtuosi Media's user avatar
78 votes
8 answers
10k views

Preventing a user from pasting from the clipboard into a mandatory form field

In my online checkout process I, like many checkouts, have a field for the customer's email address along with a field to confirm the email address. They are both identical text boxes and accept email ...
crmpicco's user avatar
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43 votes
6 answers
13k views

Disabled submit button on form vs allow submit then show errors?

We have a few different forms as part of a web-based medical application. These forms have quite a few fields - 10-20 depending on the form. Each has at least 5 or so required fields. We currently ...
Voodoo's user avatar
  • 1,777
55 votes
4 answers
45k views

Character limits on textarea fields - pros and cons and best practices?

Some of our form fields have character limits. We're debating whether we should reflect the current size of data entry, or to simply hard-limit and inhibit data entry beyond that size. In HTML, ...
Erics's user avatar
  • 9,311
15 votes
5 answers
14k views

Disabling submit-button until the user has completed the form

How do you think about disabling the submit-button until the user has completed the form or the required fields? I find similar questions here on ux.se and somebody answered that the user will think ...
Robin's user avatar
  • 475
31 votes
12 answers
88k views

Friendly format for phone numbers

Currently, on my website, users are required to input their phone number in a very specific format (555-555-5555). If you forget the dashes it breaks. Does anyone have a good suggestion for how to ...
user avatar
15 votes
3 answers
8k views

Form validation - When should error messages be triggered?

I'm working on a registration form with real-time inline validation. I'm wondering when we should trigger error messages: before, when the field is in focus and until the user has entered a valid ...
user avatar
25 votes
5 answers
5k views

Text Field Validation vs Prevention

I've been having a debate (mostly with myself) over the best approach to deal with invalid input in text fields -- validation versus prevention. Taking a numeric text field as an example, is it ...
Bill Dagg's user avatar
  • 844
10 votes
4 answers
7k views

How do we validate our persona?

When we pursue our goal of ease of use for our users we sometimes use personas to test or guide our designs. And that’s all good – because it gives us a feeling of how a user would interpret the ...
Benny Skogberg's user avatar
109 votes
12 answers
35k views

Should form 'Continue' button be disabled if validation is incomplete?

In forms we often see the 'continue' button inactive until all the required fields are complete: download bmml source – Wireframes created with Balsamiq Mockups Is this actually a help to the ...
JonW's user avatar
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40 votes
11 answers
45k views

Mark or don't mark required fields if all are required?

If all fields in a form are required should they be marked somehow (eg. with an asterisk)? I see this done a lot and find it redundant? There could be a difference in big forms and small forms, but ...
Anders's user avatar
  • 1,096
4 votes
1 answer
7k views

iOS multi-step form and user input validation

I need to design a form that may consist of 3 or 4 steps, all of them requesting both mandatory and optional data. The overall form contains a lot of data inputs, so I thought it would be better to ...
AppsDev's user avatar
  • 591
59 votes
10 answers
28k 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 and Confirm ...
Matt Goddard's user avatar
  • 2,616
39 votes
6 answers
7k views

What is the preferred behavior of form validation?

What is really the preferred behavior of form validation? When should the validation take place? When the user clicks "save" When the input field is out of focus As the user types Is the preferred ...
efrethe's user avatar
  • 3,493
18 votes
8 answers
3k views

Is it ok to change the (US) address input field order in favor of a pre-fill feature?

I am working on an international site that requires the user to enter his postal address. I am wondering if it makes sense to have a slightly different order of input fields in favor of a time saving ...
greenforest's user avatar
  • 8,776
17 votes
5 answers
9k views

Should I make space for error messages in forms?

I'm designing an mobile app for both iOS and Android, which includes a form. The form has several required input fields that the user needs to complete before continuing. If the user clicks Continue ...
NBK's user avatar
  • 201
15 votes
3 answers
48k views

What should be maximum and minimum length of persons User Name & Password? [closed]

I am wondering because I am trying to make sure that person have right amount of spaces for their user name. User Name and Password are security measures and should not be easy to guess. I have fixed ...
HelpNeeder's user avatar
12 votes
6 answers
1k views

How would you create and validate personas for something that is not a person

There are a few questions here about personas, and research methods that you might use in order to create them, (some of which I've answered at length). Examples include: What research methods can I ...
Roger Attrill's user avatar
10 votes
1 answer
377 views

Should I allow users to select a valid but disqualifying option?

I'm working on an application form where a user must be 18 years or older to apply. Should users be able to select years that would equate to them being younger than 18 or should I remove them from ...
user4427's user avatar
  • 375
10 votes
1 answer
3k views

Why do so many forms use input masks in for input fields?

To be honest, I find input masks annoying. Different masks on different sites sometimes work differently, such that their behavior unpredictable and it actually makes me take more time to type out ...
Daniel Ward's user avatar
2 votes
5 answers
624 views

Validation / Dirty Flag: should we force users to fix invalid entries before they move to another screen in the software?

Scenario: User makes a series of entries in text fields on a page that requires apply/cancel buttons. Invalid entries are flagged with an error icon and hover-over tooltips that explain the ...
Dan Kim's user avatar
  • 21
43 votes
12 answers
91k views

How to clearly state to the User what characters are valid

I'm trying to determine the best way to inform the User that an input accepts certain special characters. Alphanumerics are simple enough, but I feel like I'm losing clarity when I get to characters ...
MildWolfie's user avatar
24 votes
12 answers
3k 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 ...
Chris's user avatar
  • 343
21 votes
5 answers
2k 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 there ...
Sarawut Positwinyu's user avatar
19 votes
2 answers
16k views

Validate on blur or keypress?

Is it better to give the user instant feedback that a field is invalid on keypress, or should you wait until they blur the field? The first option might annoy users if they are told their input is ...
Cuberto's user avatar
  • 291
14 votes
6 answers
5k views

What would be the best way to let a user add a URL to a form?

Currently our webapplication simply shows a textbox with no validation at all. There is a small icon placed next to the textbox that allows the user to open the URL in a new browser window to check ...
Thorsal's user avatar
  • 387
12 votes
2 answers
16k views

Form validation and disabled buttons [duplicate]

Allowing a user to submit and find errors is likely optimal compared to the cognitive load of searching a form to see why the button's disabled. However, this could be avoided by providing real-time ...
user52330's user avatar
  • 435
11 votes
2 answers
2k views

Why do most Create Account forms clear the password fields upon wrong validation? [duplicate]

In most Create Account forms that I've used, when you enter in something wrong (username not long enough, passwords don't match, invalid email, etc.), it'll keep all the fields but erase the password ...
morgoe's user avatar
  • 111
11 votes
2 answers
2k views

Generic clientside form validation

I'm the author of the jQuery Form Validation plugin, which I started writing in 2006. Since then I've put quite some effort into improving the default interaction, without the developer using the ...
user avatar
10 votes
5 answers
2k views

How to tackle a form with 50+ fields?

(I'm not 100% sure this is the place I should be posting this but I do need help on the UI part of the problem) We have an ASP.Net MVC5 application. It has one page for profile information and that ...
MB34's user avatar
  • 361
8 votes
2 answers
25k views

Should we allow special characters or numbers in name field?

I need a generic validation for first and last name field that will be used everywhere. Currently I'm using: /^[A-Za-z]?[A-Za-z ]*$/
Nitesh Goyal's user avatar
7 votes
2 answers
3k views

Inline validation icon usability

I have been looking at the styling for validation of input forms of Bootstrap, and wondered if there was a specific reason for where the icons used for inline input validation is positioned. I ...
Michael Lai's user avatar
  • 27k
7 votes
1 answer
4k views

What are the best practices of designing a validation message on an iPhone App?

I am working on designing an iPhone app and I need to know which validation message style is the most recommended for the forms included. I don't prefer to use a pop up window i need something that ...
Jamila Hyasat's user avatar
5 votes
4 answers
3k views

Is required validation possible on a switch/toggle control?

Scenario I want to make sure a user has made a selection on a switch input. On page load it is either on (1 - in image) or off (2 - in image) depending on what state it is set to in the code. ...
Dave Haigh's user avatar
  • 6,161
5 votes
1 answer
3k views

For non-special-character textbox, should I use inline validating message or block users from inputing invalid characters?

I have one textbox that means to allow no special characters. Now, I have to choose below approaches: Display inline validating message say something like "char * is not allowed" (A) or "Your input ...
tiengtinh's user avatar
  • 589
3 votes
5 answers
1k views

Instant field validation

When filling in a very long form which has instant field validation (and required fields are marked with an asterisk), should validation take place if user focuses the field and without typing ...
Eimantas's user avatar
  • 191
3 votes
3 answers
2k views

Amber outlined required field

As part of a system I'm currently working on users will need to fill out some large (40+ fields) forms, they will not always fill out all fields but are required to fill out a handful of core fields ...
TJH's user avatar
  • 2,689
3 votes
2 answers
940 views

Mark input in forms as required even if all input is mandatory?

I looked up many questions and answers here regarding labeling mandatory input fields. The de facto standard is an asterisk * to mark input as required. Also the common approach is to mark the ...
greenforest's user avatar
  • 8,776
2 votes
3 answers
2k views

Multiple Page Forms: Validate on every page or only on the last page?

We have a form that spans 3 pages (has steps 1 to 3). Currently, we allow them to skip required data because they may want to do Step 2 first before they feel like filling out Step 1 form. Our forms ...
catandmouse's user avatar
  • 4,278
2 votes
2 answers
100 views

When should I prompt the user for duplicates entries?

We found a peculiar problem in our users when they enter their data. They tend to enter similar entries sometimes. I'll cite an example here. If there is a customer with the name ABC Electric ...
Vivek Todi's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
2k views

What's the best way to alert someone to an error on their form?

When someone submits a form on a Website or mobile app that has an error, what's the best place to show them the error? Should it be by the submit button or by the errant field? If it's by the errant ...
Josh Fialkoff's user avatar
0 votes
4 answers
10k views

Error message for "Invalid Username"

As per "UX guidelines" what should be the error message for a dimmpley Login for having 2 basic fields "Username" & Password. So if a User Enter a username with "Space or special characters[,/<...
AT - UID's user avatar
  • 291