Timeline for Address entry as a single textarea
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
15 events
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| Nov 6, 2014 at 8:32 | comment | added | peterchen | @MichaelPetito: Damn, you got me! I've updated my reply. What do you think? --- as for the "what do I enter here?", I'd figure you have the same problem with multi-field. E.g. US centric always asks for a state (often enough mandatory). For me as a German this would be formally "Sachsen" - but that's not part of the address. And do you want it in English or in German? | |
| Nov 6, 2014 at 8:30 | history | edited | peterchen | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
Incorporated user feedback, esp. Advantages
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| Nov 5, 2014 at 18:10 | comment | added | Michael Petito | @peterchen I think the more important question, which has been completely ignored in this discussion, is: What are the benefits of using a single field? Sure, you can overcome the limitations of a single field in terms of UI validation and reporting using "map services." But what benefit is this really providing the user? How long will your user stare at your form with a single address field and wonder "what exactly do they want me to put in here?" | |
| Nov 5, 2014 at 9:44 | comment | added | virtualnobi | If you're looking at examples for this; I have a similar thing: My bank offers a text field besides the form when I create a bank transfer. So I can paste the information from an email, and hit the "Parse" button (well, not actually labelled such) to let the system try to understand it. It's not good at filling in the reason for payment, though... | |
| Nov 5, 2014 at 7:51 | comment | added | peterchen |
@MichaelPetito: "people are not used to it" is certainly a good argument in UX. However, as stated, any map service can provide "sales by region" better than SELECT WHERE COUNTRY IN. And why would a free field shipping address be worse than individual fields?
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| Nov 5, 2014 at 1:12 | comment | added | Michael Petito | Don't do this - you'll confuse your customers, have no idea where to ship things, and end up with limited ability to accurately report sales by geographic region. | |
| Nov 4, 2014 at 21:41 | comment | added | Lode | +1 for mentioning validating it using an online map service. | |
| Nov 4, 2014 at 18:18 | comment | added | MiniRagnarok | @peterchen I would like to add a benefit to having separate fields that isn't present here. I have my billing and shipping information saved on my computer and phone. In two clicks I can have the entire form filled out, making the entire process much faster. | |
| Nov 4, 2014 at 16:19 | comment | added | peterchen | @SteveClaridge: Surprisingly, no. as JonW mentions, "backend tradition" is a good reason for inertia. Still, I'm a bit baffled that no site of note has "seen the light" - maybe you will be the first ;) | |
| Nov 4, 2014 at 15:39 | vote | accept | Steve Claridge | ||
| Nov 4, 2014 at 15:39 | comment | added | Steve Claridge | Do you know of any existing websites that are using these methods? | |
| Nov 4, 2014 at 15:39 | comment | added | Steve Claridge | Thanks peterchen, this backs up my feeling that the multi-field entry didn't make sense and the ideas of showing a label or interactive map are both superb. | |
| Nov 4, 2014 at 15:29 | comment | added | peterchen | Interestingly, even though this obviously started as a pretty UK-centric list, that part already destroys any multi-field form of sane size. | |
| Nov 4, 2014 at 15:15 | comment | added | Hagen von Eitzen | Thank you for addressing the falsehoods - those cannot be stressed enough! | |
| Nov 4, 2014 at 14:27 | history | answered | peterchen | CC BY-SA 3.0 |