Convey the meaning of "any" without using words

Question

There is a design with several drop downs to select between multiple choices.

These choices work as filters on a large dataset. When you select one of them, only the records matching the selection will be displayed.

The first choice is always "all", meaning that you don't care about that particular category.

The problem is that when translated, for languages that have gender, the translation is different depending on the gender of the category, and it's difficult for the translation engine to provide an accurate translation.

So, we want to convey this meaning using a language independent symbology. Right now we have a combination of lines and a star:

But I am not sure this design is the best one to convey the meaning.

What are some symbols that could be used for this purpose? (Any Unicode symbol can be used.)

Answer 1

If you're trying to convey "this criteria doesn't matter", simply leaving it blank is probably the best option. This used to be a very common pattern in "advanced" search dialogs, until application designers collectively decided that fancy search options were not something users needed.

Answer 2

I think the closest thing to a universal symbol would simply be *, which is used as a wildcard character in many operating systems and applications. It might not be recognized by every end user, but it is certainly more understandable than what you have now.

There is also the option of leaving the field blank, implying no filter will be applied.

Answer 3

I assume there is no universal accepted symbol for "All". So, I would either return to text or use a slider like the price sliders on e-commerce websites or have the options shown as a list with checkbox depending on how many options you have on that element but avoid using a symbol as random as - star -

Answer 4

Assuming the site is translated through a translation engine (which is very much prone to error) instead of properly translated and localized (see this for starters), using the wrong gender for "any (shape)" or "any (size)" is a relatively minor problem. But let's just assume so and come up with a possible solution.

Is it unreasonable to have the first option read "All options" or "Any option"? That way, for languages that do use gender, the gender of "option" would be used, regardless of the gender of the thing that you're talking about in the form. However, even languages that have genders may have a non-gendered alternative, like "cualquiera" in Spanish ("un periódico cualquiera" - whatever newspaper (masculine), "una revista cualquiera" - whatever magazine (feminine)).

Answer 5

You could include the min and max values like

1.5 - 1.8

Then all rest of the options.

Answer 6

The problem is that when translated, for languages that have genre, the translation is different depending on the genre of the category, and it's difficult for the translation engine to provide an accurate translation.

Given problem can be solved by using variable value based on language being used by an application. Here is how android multi language apps are developed.

If not possible

simply leaving it blank is probably the best option

as said by @Mark

Answer 7

I suggest you don't leave it blank and use in clear writing "Choose one" for the default option. Then, add an option (at the top of the dropdown) for "Don't use indice".

This leaves no room for ambiguity:

If the user simply encounters a blank dropdown, or "-----," they may think they have to select one of the options, which may not be true.

Instead, actually guide them to choose an option, and in one of the options telling them that they have the option to select "None," seems like the least ambiguous route here, and the clearest for users, since, even if it does add an extra step for them to confirm, it avoids confusion.

Answer 8

I agree with some other comments here that something like --- only indicates that nothing has been selected, but doesn't indicate if something must be selected. Likewise, an asterisk * could be mistaken to indicate that the field is required.

I only have two quick ideas, neither of which is perfect:

1. Use the infinity symbol ∞ to indicate "all", but someone could easily think that means "use the highest value possible" rather than "use all values".

2. If the values are for a range and are in order, perhaps list the first and last with an em dash separating them, to indicate the full range: 1.5 — 1.8

It's perhaps also seeing if it would be feasible to expand your API to allow a string to be provided for this value so that a properly-gendered word could be provided. I have no idea if this is practical for your application. (And in any case, you would probably still want to fall back on a generic solution in case such a string did not get provided.)

Answer 9

Perhaps an empty set would work, like...

{?}
{1.5}
{1.52}

or

[ ]
[1.5]
[1.52]

or

[x]
[1.5]
[1.52]

Answer 10

mathematicians use ∀ to mean "for all" You could also use ∅ (empty) implying "no filter applied)

Answer 11

If you don't have to be particularly formal, you could use some variant of:

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

This one is supposed to be a shrug but doesn't render well in my browser at least:

🤷

Answer 12

*.*

But you have to be old to understand that one...

Answer 13

The audience for this question is pretty high-brow. In my experience, "Concept" does not inform "assumption". Hence, the UI does need to be specifically worded. Murphys' Law

"Use words. Why do you assume that a star would convey the meaning "all"?"