In many cases, when creating an A/B choice for a user, there is a clear option that should be the default; if not, the debates can rage... and if the choices are not clearly boolean (Yes or No), it gets sticky.
I am working on an app in which the user can create a new "case" (database record) on the fly. When they create a new case, they are presented with a form, with many of the fields optional. Some of those optional fields are obvious boolean choices, such as "Yes/No"; others are less clear, such as "Delivery/Retrieval," "Imperial/Metric" and "Male/Female."
The first question is this: for fields that have an A/B exclusive option, a toggle seems to be an appropriate control to use (especially when one hates radio buttons). But if the fields are OPTIONAL and should not contain a value, how do you represent them by default when the form first appears?
There is no obvious default choice for Male/Female, and if the user does not select one at all, we don't want to throw a default into the data record. We could not enter the value into the record until they edit it, but if they look at a control and see a value that looks correct by default, they may not touch it, and in that situation it would therefore not be entered into the record at all, though it LOOKS selected.
Is there any best practice around defaulting this sort of non-boolean a/b choice? Anyone?
The second question is this: what is the best way to represent non-boolean values on a toggle switch? I have three possible options I'm playing with now:
There appear to be benefits and drawbacks to each - any thoughts around this from the community at large?