Asterisk * is used for required. Is there any symbol used for optional?

Question

It is common the use of asterisk (*) to indicate required elements. I understand the use of explicit text is better than relying on symbols. So writing "required" or "optional" is more understandable than relying on some symbol.

I'm creating lists of elements characteristics for personal use. These are not forms, just text lists. Most (90% or more) of the elements I am listing will be required. So rather than indicate required elements I want to (only) indicate optional elements, which are the minority. I can use my own symbol and give it the optional meaning as my team will be the only ones reading the elements. But I was wondering if there is any convention of a symbol for optional fields/elements.

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My question is related to lists of text, not forms. Although I think there might not really be much difference. As far as I understand it the required goes in the label anyway. Also, again, this will be for personal use.

So the question is if there is any symbol/way to represent optional elements. Either used as a convention (in some niche) or if someone has any suggestion.

Answer 1

There is no widely accepted convention to show optional fields. So as you described, you can mark the fields as optional instead using labels (as noted on the right):

Another way could be to shade the section with a subtle gray color to distinguish them as optional, while also including the text. I'd refrain from using a question mark, as that generally connotates "help" information.

Lastly, depending on your flow, it could make sense to request the optional fields on a subsequent page that the user can choose to skip entirely.

If you're not using form fields, then using a subtle gray shaded box on optional fields or simply making the text light gray might suffice.

Answer 2

Since it is for personal use you can make up whatever you want.

I would make a legend like this on top of the form/page/whatever:

Answer 3

To just answer your question, there is no symbol to convey that a form field is optional, the convention is that a lack of symbol means that a field is optional.

This convention is so strong that when we trialled a form with the note "All fields are required, unless otherwise stated" and used "(optional)" to denote optional fields we ran into usability issues with users where they were confused by what was and wasn't required. This was true even for forms that had all required fields.

We found that in our case users wanted to be explicitly told that fields were required, and that it also helped for form validation errors, for a user to quickly see that a field was required.

I hope that answers your question about there being a symbol - no there isn't one.

As for your own situation, there are plenty of good solutions listed on this page, and coming up with your own system might be best given it's just you and your team. My suggestion would be that, as you're not using form elements and just list items that you can use the asterisk to denote an optional item. After all, the convention of using an asterisk to denote conditions has been used well before online form. (I wouldn't suggest this if you were dealing with forms, but as it's just a list I don't see an issue with it).

E.g.

• Item 1
• Item 2
• Item 3
• Item 4*
• Item 5

* Denotes optional items

Answer 4

This is what I would do in order to specify when a field is required or optional

The last field is the active one, I added it in order to show that we still have the label when the field is active.

Answer 5

I think it is enough to mark only one type of fields (required / optional). My opinion is you should follow the convention by marking required fields and reduce visual noise by letting the optional fields without any label. You can find some info about required fields on Material design guidelines:

To indicate that a field is required, display an asterisk (*) next to the field. At the bottom of the form, include a note explaining that an asterisk indicates a required field. Helper text can either be visible on focus, or visible persistently.

Te red color is necessary only if you have an error, otherwise can be confusing.

In some examples, you can find the word "optional" in the label:

Answer 6

The convention is that the * marked fields are the required ones and the ones without a mark are optional, there is no need to mark them as optional, because that's the convention.

another thing to keep in mind is that not all the users are aware of the * convention for required fields, I read a few years ago that in Israel (my country) it is a known convention, but I would check if the situation is similar with your users using A/B testing between * and "required" for example.

Answer 7

@Alvaro I agree with you that text would be more understandable instead of icons. But now things getting changed. Nowadays people are used to with colours too for common colours. For example "red" colour denotes something wrong or not attempted or failure. "Green" means successful or approved or submitted. So you can use the colour code as I have listed below via wireframe. This is now very popular approach to denote the required and optional field.

^{download bmml source – Wireframes created with Balsamiq Mockups}

EDITED

It's a common approach and everybody saved in their mind that id field doesn't have any asterisk sign then it is optional. So I think it doesn't need to give icons or symbols for each and every scenario. If things are going smooth without giving any symbols then it is big deal.

Answer 8

I set required inputs in one and first page/part, after them optional inputs. So, Each page/part is categorized at least by required and optional. Something like this (with separating pages):

Note: I can add a note in optional page like "Please add additional information".
Or (with separating in another part):

Answer 9

Since your list is meant to be used by you or internally with your team, you have the liberty to set up your own legend/symbol system.

You are not tied to the optional/asterisk used in form fields because (1) your list is not a form and therefore (2) nobody will use the optional/asterisk mental model to understand your list.

So you are pretty much free to do anything, depending on your needs and the format this documents exists in. And as long as you explain what your symbol system means.

For example, if your list is done in an excel-sheet, you could have a column labeled as "Required". Each required row will have its "Required" cell colored. This way, all features are colored by default and you only un-color those that are optional.

Following the above example, if your decision process becomes more complex, you might have 3 columns: Required, TBD, Optional. The goal is maintaining the TBD column blank. Meaning all discussions about such feature has taken place and a final decision made.

This format will also allow you to sort rows by requirement and any other variable your team needs. Also, maybe the color coding will help you quickly determine what items need to be dealt with.

Answer 10

For simplicity, it feels natural to show which are required before an error message has to tell a user what's required. Anything else that's left as an option doesn't need an optional message by the nature of a required element.

If no special required element existed, then everything can be perceived as an option unless expressed otherwise in a header sentence or paragraph.

Answer 11

Limiting my answer strictly to text. I think the best you can do is:

Rich text: italic and/or gray

^{download bmml source – Wireframes created with Balsamiq Mockups}

Plain text: parentheses

Required 1
(Optional 1)
Required 2
Required 3
...

Answer 12

If the label its upside the field, Its recommendable use the word; but if is on the the side, its better use asterisk.

The reason its simple: the first option its more visible and help the user to identify with more clarity. The second option, its better because not use a lot of space.

A third option, could be use the placeholder. But I don't recommend use this option because is not enough clear.

Answer 13

With no pun intended. Would it be an option not to show 'optional' fields or list items by default (since they're optional). Provide a link to toggle optional items. Use animation to transition in the optional items to help people understand the visual difference and which doesn't require them to think or look for the meaning behind a symbol.

Use font weight to distinguish required from optional. If it needs more strength - add 'optional' label or symbol to make it even clearer. Taking it further use color or tone. All this would require some testing against your actual use cases and goals.

Example with Label

Show Optional

Item

Item

Item

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Hide Optional

Item

Item (Optional)

Item

Item

Item (Optional)

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Example with Symbol

Show Optional ^

Item

Item

Item

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Hide Optional ^

Item

Item ^

Item

Item

Item ^