Android indicate that user have to fill a field before validate

Question

I'm creating an android application and I got a question about UX. I got a scrollable activity that will show some informations. The user can just validate or refuse the activity.

Something like that

For validate or refuse the user have to enter a comment about why he chooses to validate or refuse.

What's the best option to do this ?

• first, I chose to make a popup appear on button click, this popup contains fields that allows user to enter te information I need

• second option would be to disable buttons on my activity while user does not fill a comment section at bottom of my activity

• finally third option would be to refuse form submission if field is not filled so that when clicking button user will stay on activity if the comment section is empty.

I really don't know what's the most user-friendly solution, so if anyone could help me then it would be much appreciated as I really need to find the best solution there

Thank you all for reading me and my english needs a few improvements

Answer 1

I think disabling the Submit button until a reason is entered is fine. Usually we want to prevent errors like what happens when you keep the button active on an unfinished form.

To make it simpler, consider listing the most common reasons in the modal and allowing the user to select one instead of typing stuff.

Answer 2

It's important for your users to understand what they need to do to fix the problem.

Let's see how your proposed solutions stack up:

1. This could work—it certainly gets the message across. Some potential problems:

   • You would need to keep in mind that some fields might have been filled out incorrectly (a typo in an email, for instance). Make sure to preserve their text and the warnings that come with them.
   • You'll be taking fields out of context. If, for example, you have a "Work" and a "Home" section in your form, each with a "Phone number" field, when you only put "Phone number" in this new dialog, you'll lose context. You'd need to ensure each and every field carries across the same meaning alone and in combination with any other field.
   • You'll need to consider what happens when a person submits this dialog and not all fields are filled in. Does another dialog show up?

2. You'd need to communicate WHY buttons are disabled in a way that the user notices. How would you communicate it in this case?

3. Same as number 2.

I would suggest the following solution: keep the submit button enabled and whenever this button is clicked, show an error message in red below all the fields that need to be filled out and scroll to the first error. That way, the user should notice the error, yet you're not losing context or filled-out fields.

Answer 3

On a form where one of possible outcomes is for the user to dismiss it without entering any details, I'm not sure that disabling the buttons and hoping the user will guess which field must be completed is probably not a good idea.

The same goes for the third option - denying the submit and presenting the user with an error when they may have done nothing at all is likely to cause frustration.

Having the pop-up to collect the data once the user has made their choice seems more reasonable

Answer 4

Actually none of your options. First lets consider your options:

1. Your first option: In this case people encounter with an unexpected interrupt. People expect a bigger change when they click on a "Quit" or "Validate" button.

2. Your second option: You should keep in mind that you want user participation, that cannot be acquired by force. For sure you don't want a lot of "blah, blah, blah" comments, which users will writ to escape the restriction. And of course there is a home button on phones that terminate your app's workflow.

3. And finally your third option: It's ambiguous for user that distinguish what is the problem. It's better to give a better guide to him about the current situation. And again don't forget there is a home button on phones that terminate your app's workflow.

For making a better solution, we should have good understanding about the overall workflow.

You display a screen filled with some information >>> user read this information >>> User see the bottom buttons and find-out he should make a decision: validation or simply quit >>> he make decision and click on the chosen button >>> now after he has made his decision and has chosen the button, we go to next level by displaying a new activity and ask him to write an comment. There are some important notes:

• Making decision and expressing comment, are two separate works that should be down on separate activities. compacting them on one activity only increase the complexity.
• We ask the comment after he has chooses the button, not before it.
• More activities with fluent flow is better than less activities with hurdles.

After all it's very very very important principle that say moving from left to right is indicator of progress (based on an Cleveland State University study). So your activities transition in this case should be right to left slide, to make a left to right movement sense.

• Left to right from top to bottom: easy down
• Left to right from bottom to top: easy up
• Right to left from top to bottom: hard down
• Right to left from bottom to top: hard up