Instruction to select none, one or many items?

Question

I have a form for a meeting room booking app, similar to a calendar/scheduling app. The user needs to choose:

• One room
• None, one or many assets (projectors, whiteboards, etc)

I am having some trouble trying to figure out what's the best instruction to label the Assets list box. Some ideas I've thought of but don't quite really like:

1. Select one or more assets to book
2. Select any assets to book
3. Select the assets to book
4. Select one or more assets to book (optional)
5. Select assets to book (optional)

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

In case it's relevant, the Assets list box is multi-selectable, but it does not require holding Shift or Control, meaning the user just needs to click to select, and click again to unselect an item.

What would be a good way to label this field, or suggestions to rework other parts of the form to make it clearer that one is a single-select and the other is a multi-select?

Answer 1

As a general rule, most users do not read, or just skim the instructions, believing they already know what is written.

Whether you can select one or multiple items should be understandable by the widget visuals alone. Lists are usually only used for single selections, and multiple selection lists are awkward at best.

I would suggest using check boxes to make clear that multiple options are selectable.

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

You can integrate the checkboxes in whatever way you want into your design, important is just the association. Alternatively you can also use +/- symbols which have a similar connection.

Answer 2

A few suggestions, followed by a question:

Suggestions: 1. Consider dropping punctuation in the UI. Especially the question marks. 2. Consider dropping the instructional text. 2. Using red and green gives the impression of an OK state (greed) and an error state (red). 4. Small change suggested to the tooltip wording.

Question: Can the Dell Projector in the 25th floor conference room be selected for a meeting in Meeting Room 1?

Answer 3

I think "Select one or more assets to book" is fine, the other option would be something along the lines of changing the word "asset"

Do you require any other [or further] equipment?

If yes, please select below

Answer 4

For enforcing the selection of a single item, typically you'd use something like a radio button, whereas when multiple items can be selected from the same list then you'd use a checkbox.

However perhaps having some visual queue as to whether it's a 'radio button' selection (typically often a circle with a dot when selected) or a 'check box' (typically a square with a tick when selected)

Of course there are exceptions to this, for example list boxes with multiple selection, and the default radio buttons / check boxes might not fit with the feel of your UI, but it's worth considering how you might incorporate this.