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Is it bad UX to display/enable or mark mandatory fields in the general section (at top) based on details selection which is placed at the bottom?

If yes, what are the options we have in this situation?

Selecting an option in the table at the bottom will display 2 additional fields in the general section.

enter image description here

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  • Hi Era, what do you mean with general section? Some kind of Table of Contents?
    – Nash
    Mar 9, 2022 at 9:25
  • @Nash I have added an image here. Selecting an option in the table at the bottom will display 2 additional fields in the general section.
    – Era
    Mar 9, 2022 at 9:37
  • 2
    How can something in the detail section influence the options in a general section? Looks like something went wrong earlier on in the design process but there is not enough context given to point that out.
    – jazZRo
    Mar 15, 2022 at 13:11
  • Why is it not possible to place the dropdown selection first and then follow with the formfields, which can be dynamic based on selection? That's how most forms operate. Why do you need empty fields on the top?
    – Big_Chair
    Mar 15, 2022 at 14:55
  • The dropdown selection is only applicable to one row. whereas when the user selects a specific option at the row level, a few input fields in the general section become mandatory to be filled (which are applicable to the whole form)
    – Era
    Mar 16, 2022 at 7:36

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Knowing our natural reading order is from top to bottom and from left to right, a situation increased even more if it's about filling out a form, what you are trying to do is something totally unnatural.

– what are the options we have in this situation? –

It's impossible to answer this without knowing the form content.

If on a guided trip, almost reaching the destination, the guide tells the passengers that they must return to the starting point, he/she will surely be forced to give an explanation, at the risk that they abandon the trip (form).

If there's no other option and the form needs to force the user to take trips from the bottom up to complete it, the only way to make them first understand it and then carry it out is by explaining why and giving visual cues.

Explaining the reason

A red alert text indicating that some modifications may affect fields in other sections:

enter image description here

Visual signals

Once the selection is chosen, establish a visual relationship in the affected sections with color fields or marks:

enter image description here

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Yes, it will be bad practice to only introduce the new boxes or mark them only in the top section because it breaks the user's flow on the page which is top to bottom when performing the task. They will fail to notice the change as the page hierarchy and focus is not directed towards the top.

Your options: Design for the new boxes to be available in flow or focus after the UI which causes change ie in the details select section. Remove the new boxes from the general section if redundancy is not required or disable editing them.

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