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I have a HTML form that requires the user to specify dimensions for an item they are ordering.

A list must show for standard or popular dimensions. Originally this would happen when the field is selected, the list would show below. Maybe a "search" icon on the right side would be more fitting?

Having single fields such as

Length: 42.12 Width: 12.3 Height: 4.42

could look nice with some styling, but having a drop down appear underneath these fields seems a bit odd.

Alternative would be a single field like so:

Dimensions (in.) : 42.12 x 12.3 x 4.42

The separator makes this painful to look at. Maybe styling the text so the separator is very faint would be good? For validation I could prevent the user from typing any non-numeric or decimal point character, and when a space is hit it automatically adds the separator, but this might be confusing.

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  • You say "a list must show for standard or popular dimensions". Can you give examples of what would appear in that list? – Matt Obee Sep 23 '13 at 16:45
  • "42 x 21 x 3", "12 x 12 x 3", etc. Basically if the item is not in the list, then the order will be marked as having to be quoted first. The list will contain industry standard dimensions. – Justin Sep 23 '13 at 16:49
  • I think the slider idea is a good one, it may be worth checking out Bret Victor's scrubbing calculator that puts an idea like this into action worrydream.com/#!/ScrubbingCalculator – user35984 Oct 2 '13 at 10:25
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How about such solution:
enter image description here

The advantages are:

  1. Boxes for Length, Width, and Height are clear defined
  2. Standard sizes ▼ link clear shows interaction ability
  3. Popup dialog doesn't depend on field selection, no hidden rules

  4. Control allows easy editing

    enter image description here

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  • Ha, very nice! The current design I went with is similar to yours. The difference is the "standard sizes" is a drop down on the left, when it's set to custom the input fields appear. I like your solution better, and will consider it. Thank you very much! Also, what did you use for screen mocks? Often I end up using illustrator here! – Justin Oct 3 '13 at 17:53
  • Hi, @Justin! Glad to hear you. I made the mocks with Xara Designer, it's mostly like Illustrator but much lightweighted. – Alexey Kolchenko Oct 4 '13 at 8:23
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How about three sliders, each of which has markings at popular dimensions for the respective dimension.

For example:

Length: |---|------|--[x]-----------|----------|
        2   4      8                16         24

By splitting them up to three inputs you can avoid confusion about parameter order, e.g. was it length x width x height or width x height x length, etc.

Providing the popular choices on the scale of that dimension, you can visually indicate and nudge users towards standard measurements, which still allowing granular selection should users require it.

Update: Thanks for clarifying your problem in the comments. Maybe you would be best suited with a drop down of common measurements. The drop down could have one measurement option "custom", which, when selected, shows three input fields for typing in custom dimensions.

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  • 1
    Interesting idea. I should of added to think of the standards as a whole, rather than standards per dimension. Ex, 1 x 2 x 3 would be a standard, but their is no individual standards for length, width, and height as separate measurements. Begin able to key in data too is a must for fast entry for those who already know the standards. – Justin Sep 23 '13 at 18:11
  • Oh I see, that does make my suggestion less useful indeed - maybe I'll think of a different approach still, in which case I'll update my answer. I guess the problem boils down to having mostly 3-key standards or 3 individual measurements for custom input. – kontur Sep 23 '13 at 19:26

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