All Questions
3,226
questions
8
votes
4
answers
2k
views
Best way to indicate that a image gallery can be swiped left-right on mobile/tablet
I'm in the process of adding responsive design to our website and one of the main features that users interact with is our image gallery (we are an editorial-based website). At normal viewport sizes, ...
- 331
8
votes
3
answers
6k
views
Pop-ups: when and when not to use?
As a web developer I get to play with popups a lot. So much that it seems like on every project that I work on there is always at least one big discussion among devs (and PM) about popups and when we ...
- 183
7
votes
1
answer
12k
views
Hamburger Menu - is it a good thing? [closed]
I've always been doubtful about the "Hamburger menu" in iOS apps. That is, until recently. I now think it's a really terrible device that used as just a lazy way out when you can't think of ...
- 297
7
votes
3
answers
6k
views
Best practices for Tabs
What are the maximum levels of tabs we can have in a web application..? I am working on financial application where i have display project information which will need atleast 3-5 levels of tabs to ...
- 1,188
6
votes
2
answers
1k
views
The effect of showing "wizard" style steps in a multistep process
I'm approaching this from the context of a user onboarding workflow.
Specifically I'm looking for references to research that discuss what effect displaying "wizard" steps actually has on user ...
- 163
6
votes
9
answers
1k
views
Should the results of a calculation happen automatically, or require a button push?
This is a problem I've ran into several times, and I imagine that others have ran across it too.
Basically, I have a complicated equation, and I want the user to type in the values needed to ...
- 378
5
votes
2
answers
2k
views
What affords scrolling?
Besides the obvious:
Scrollbar
Touch interfaces (especially mobile ones)
A sign saying "You can scroll here you know!"
This for a desktop application.
- 963
5
votes
4
answers
666
views
Location of new items in list
I have a medium-sized list (about a few dozen items, the container is very likely to have internal vertical scrolling). There is no sorting, so items are displayed in the order of their addition to ...
- 30.6k
4
votes
1
answer
3k
views
Hamburger menu for desktop website
I'm working on a new version of a corporate website. As it stands, it has about 6 different sections. Each of those sections have between 3 to 6 sub-pages. My nav is at the top of the page and looks a ...
- 391
3
votes
3
answers
5k
views
What are best practices for blocking UI when application is busy
I'm writing a web app using Twitter Bootstrap with PHP on server side.
My app makes regular ajax requests via jQuery and i want to disable certain parts of the UI until the server completes processing ...
2
votes
3
answers
5k
views
Best way to display more table columns and rows than I have room for?
I have a similar problem to what is mentioned in Best way to display more table columns than I have room for?. But to make things a little more difficult, the table has approximately 1000 rows and 64 ...
- 21
448
votes
10
answers
189k
views
Why do credit card forms ask for Visa, MasterCard, etc.?
You can tell if it's a Visa or MasterCard based on the number it starts with, i.e. 4 for Visa, 5 for MasterCard. Why do most billing forms request the type of card?
It's not a barrier for bots (to my ...
- 3,983
120
votes
14
answers
648k
views
How do you choose a font for extremely limited space, i.e. will fit the most READABLE text in the smallest space?
I often have very limited space when creating reports and dashboards for users. I usually use Arial, or Arial Narrow, but UI isn't my area of expertise, so I want to know, how do you determine an ...
- 3,164
109
votes
12
answers
34k
views
Should form 'Continue' button be disabled if validation is incomplete?
In forms we often see the 'continue' button inactive until all the required fields are complete:
download bmml source – Wireframes created with Balsamiq Mockups
Is this actually a help to the ...
JonW♦
- 37.1k
104
votes
13
answers
31k
views
When a button contains text and an icon, which should come first?
Assuming I'm optimizing for making it as fast and easy as possible for most users to find the button they need, what's the optimal ordering?
- 1,168
104
votes
11
answers
67k
views
Should a button become lighter or darker on hover?
We're having a discussion in the office about whether a button should become lighter or darker when a user hovers over it.
Here are some examples from the field:
Apple "Buy Now" button (Second is ...
- 2,307
100
votes
4
answers
38k
views
Should users be able to zoom in a responsive webdesign?
When it comes to a responsive design: should users still be able to zoom in or out?
We are currently working on a responsive design and one of our testers found it awkward that he wasn't able to zoom ...
- 1,312
95
votes
11
answers
41k
views
How to display duration (HH:MM) so it isn't confused with clock time
I have a table in my application that shows dates along its x-axis, and different statuses along its y-axis. The table keeps track of how much time an employee spent in a given work status (on duty, ...
- 1,317
92
votes
6
answers
173k
views
What is the smallest screen size you design for [closed]
I'm looking to make my website responsive, however this is my first foray into responsive design, and I'm pretty clueless at the moment.
I have no idea what the current state of play is with regard ...
- 1,015
88
votes
13
answers
43k
views
Should a web-based UI rely on the browser back button?
The back button is a great "get out of a flow's dead end" option that browsers provide. Should a UI rely on the back button as the only method to allow a user to get to the previous page or should the ...
- 2,520
86
votes
8
answers
17k
views
Are round check boxes confusing or an accepted standard?
I was browsing dribbble.com today and came across a new post by one of the designers that I follow. He had posted a new modal form which was using rounded check boxes. I have never seen these before.
...
- 13.5k
81
votes
22
answers
17k
views
Do we need good-looking design for a program internal only to our company?
Do we need to make the user-interface look good (adding images, animations, etc.) for a program internal only to the company?
Making the user-interface look good might slow the performance of the ...
- 1,605
80
votes
8
answers
97k
views
Default cursor on mouse over of a button is not a hand pointer
Why is the default cursor an arrow when you hover over an HTML <button>? I always thought that arrows let you select stuff, but hands let you execute an action. Since buttons execute actions, ...
- 10.8k
78
votes
11
answers
26k
views
Should users be allowed to use any special character they want when creating a password?
I came across a number of login configuration settings where there is a list of allowable special characters and was wondering:
Does this limitation cater for a specific security or usability need?
...
- 7,006
77
votes
9
answers
25k
views
How should you show that an accordion is expanded?
When you have an accordion, you need some way of showing the current state is expanded.
There are a number of different ways of handling this, and each is used by a number of respected websites and ...
- 68.1k
75
votes
4
answers
11k
views
Is there a better way than zebra stripes
Currently we are working on a project that includes many datatables. Before deciding to use zebra stripes to make datatables easier to manage, I wanted to ask if you could advise a better solution ...
- 1,342
74
votes
10
answers
9k
views
Why are progress bars horizontal?
Question sparked by this discussion.
Why are progress bars almost always presented as horizontal lines that increase from left to right? Is this the best method of indicating progress (and why)? And ...
- 6,458
73
votes
6
answers
154k
views
Preferred format to display negative currency (US English)? [closed]
Which would be the more readable way to format negative numbers:
-$99.99
($99.99)
Some other format I haven't considered
Details:
Most of our user base has finance experience, but some have none at ...
- 1,505
72
votes
10
answers
21k
views
Undo History - Why limit it? [closed]
Why do most applications have fairly limited 'undo' history functionality?
I've been caught out on multiple occasions (granted its technically my fault) where I've needed to undo a number of changes ...
- 2,454
66
votes
19
answers
41k
views
Form for inputting operating hours of a business
I am designing an interface where restaurants need to input their operating hours. I am thinking of using a slider control for timings for a single day, and then let the user choose days of the week ...
- 4,563
62
votes
21
answers
14k
views
Argument for/against splitting login process into checking username, then ask password?
My boss has insisted for a while that our login process be divided into two steps on separate pages: on the first page, ask the user's e-mail address. On the second page, either display "user found" ...
- 721
60
votes
12
answers
64k
views
Is there an optimal font size?
For most website projects I've been involved with, the font size for the bulk text is usually 12px - 13px, but I'm wondering if this is a good size. I remember reading an article saying that font ...
- 2,297
59
votes
11
answers
12k
views
Your download will start in X seconds
Is there any reason why many websites - including very mainstream ones such as microsoft.com and sourceforge.net - show a page with "Your download will start in 10 seconds; if you don't want to wait ...
- 591
57
votes
6
answers
30k
views
What's the point of a "Read full story" button?
I've noticed a lot of news websites, particularly on mobile, sometimes will cut off their story with a button you have to click to see the rest of it. I can understand why they'd do this if they ...
- 673
54
votes
7
answers
13k
views
When should you use a modal dialog box?
There seems to be an increasing use of modal dialog boxes on the web, but when should you use them? Why would you choose to use them instead of inline controls or another page, and when should you ...
Philip Morton
53
votes
15
answers
10k
views
What are some great web-based prototyping tools? [closed]
I'm looking for a list of web-based prototyping tools and I'd like to build one up here by using StackExchange's democratic voting system.
There are already some lists around the web, notably these ...
50
votes
13
answers
38k
views
Better way for users to select a date range
In my application, users select a date range for which results are required. The UI looks something like this:
My users don't like this, because the date picker requires them to select a specific ...
- 8,281
50
votes
6
answers
5k
views
Will forcing response time to the average time as a minimum improve UX?
I have a situation where my Ajax call response time could vary from 14ms to 600ms, because of the complexity of a Query they could make.
From my experience Users take for granted those 20-80 ms round ...
- 603
49
votes
6
answers
18k
views
Are there any recent studies of the "Keyboard vs Mouse"-issue?
Back in the late 80's, Apple Human Interface concluded that the mouse is faster than the keyboard, objectively. But also that every test person subjectively thought that the keyboard was faster.
...
- 12.6k
47
votes
6
answers
18k
views
Inline editing or modal popup
I'm interested to know what would be best the option from a UX perspective. I have a table in which I need to decide if I should edit each row with inline editing where you can click on each item in ...
- 471
47
votes
23
answers
4k
views
Is there ever a good reason to force opening a new browser window?
As a power web user, I know how to use my browser and it drives me nuts when web sites force me to open a new page. My mother, by contrast, just gets confused when this happens. At the end of a web ...
Shermozle
46
votes
4
answers
35k
views
Do disabled buttons still need to be contrast compliant for accessibility?
Very related to this question: Accessible Disabled State but that is about how to style disabled buttons to make them accessibility compliant, but my question is slightly different.
Is it actually an ...
JonW♦
- 37.1k
43
votes
8
answers
34k
views
Where can I find style guide for metro UI for web applications?
I am interested in the Metro UI that microsoft has used for windows phone 7 for web. I see that their site microsoft.com has been done with metro UI recently.
I am looking for a style guide and ...
- 531
42
votes
22
answers
6k
views
What would be a good non-religious icon to represent that a person has died? [closed]
I have an application that displays information about people in an organization and their accomplishments in the organization. It is non-religious in nature and members can be of any or no religion. ...
- 493
42
votes
13
answers
7k
views
How much should a UX professional know about front-end development?
Apologies if this is too much of a fuzzy question, I was wondering what people's thoughts were regarding the level of front-end development knowledge a UX professional (Experience Architect, Usability ...
- 926
42
votes
6
answers
18k
views
Periods at the end of a sentence in alert message
How to classify what type of messages should've a fullstop/period and what should not?
Because there are certain error/warning/success/info messages (be it a dialog, banner, contextual or ones in a ...
- 623
41
votes
10
answers
49k
views
How to make selecting a timezone more user-friendly?
The list of time zones is rather long, lots of duplication, and not very friendly to programmers let alone end-users.
Is there a way to shorten the list to something friendlier and sufficient for 80%+ ...
- 663
40
votes
8
answers
48k
views
Hamburger menu icons - should they be on the left or right?
Hamburger menus (the three small horizontal bars: the new menu icon). Should they be on the right or left?
I'm only thinking of mobile and tablet applications.
The pattern I see the most is on the ...
- 1,611
40
votes
3
answers
18k
views
Info Icon vs Question Mark
We're debating inside our team on whether to use a question mark icon, or an "i" icon for prompting a tooltip that reveals more info.
Which do you say conveys the message better? Or, how do they ...
- 813
40
votes
9
answers
6k
views
What are the drawbacks of designing a Windows application to look like a Mac application?
I'm working with a company whose product is a Microsoft Windows application.
As the UI/UX designer (and as a Mac user) I want to redesign the application so it is more visually appealing.
Are there ...
- 553