88
votes
Accepted
Should I empty the wrongly filled fields or leave as user has filled after validation message?
Typing on mobile is a very arduous and unpleasant process, so we should try keeping it to a minimum.
Sometimes your users will have made just a small error that can be fixed by replacing or adding a ...
- 30.3k
76
votes
Accepted
Should form 'Continue' button be disabled if validation is incomplete?
Type of the information captured and number of fields required
It really depends on the type and scope of the information you are asking for and the number of fields that need to be filled:
I have ...
- 6,976
60
votes
Accepted
Real-Time validation, Good or Bad UX
To quote from nngroup.com:
7. Don’t Validate Fields Before Input is Complete
...
It can be annoying to see an error message before being given the opportunity to finish typing.
- 10.5k
48
votes
Make user aware that he cannot enter arbitrary values into textbox?
I came up with another way to handle this scenario which is more clear in cases with arbitrary jumps.
1. Show links below the text input to quickly convey how the bidding system works by listing ...
- 15.8k
46
votes
How would you ask the user if their drawn signature is similar to the ID card sign?
I don't think you can guarantee it
If you try to make people mimic how their signature 'should' be, you'll open a lot of cases where people struggle with their device and can't get it to look the ...
- 9,731
39
votes
What is the preferred behavior of form validation?
Generally,
The way in which validation should be implemented varies based on the
unique needs of the form. However, in general, if the user’s input is
incorrect, the system should inform the ...
- 3,719
30
votes
Field that doesn't allow spaces - giving correct feedback
Will Company Name be stored in the database with spaces and then a separate URL column will have no spaces?
I would recommend building the URL just below the Company Name as they type so when the ...
- 5,619
29
votes
Make user aware that he cannot enter arbitrary values into textbox?
I recently was playing around with a new type of pager control that only uses numbers and doesn't require any localization (next, previous, last, first, all function without any words required in the ...
- 15.8k
28
votes
Real-Time validation, Good or Bad UX
Validation should not start before input is complete
When the user starts entering a correct value, no errors should appear while typing. The input is considered to be complete when
the input focus ...
- 448
27
votes
Should form 'Continue' button be disabled if validation is incomplete?
I would have to say that this behavior hinders user experience.
If you've ever read Don't Make Me Think by Steve Krug then you will quickly realize that this pattern is breaking the rule stated in ...
- 5,619
26
votes
Form validation and disabled buttons
TL;DR: Don't disable the submit button and wait to present errors until after the user has hit the submit button.
Studies have been conducted showing that users tend to complete forms in full before ...
- 17.5k
25
votes
Should I empty the wrongly filled fields or leave as user has filled after validation message?
From a usability point of view, definitely keep their entry. There is nothing more annoying to users, in our experience, than clearing their entry on failing validation. They need to be able to see ...
- 251
23
votes
Should we allow special characters or numbers in name field?
Yes you should!
Your suggestion about having a validation rule would be a very bad idea. Did you know, the world's most common last name is 王?
Here is a classic article that you need to read: http://...
- 17.2k
20
votes
How would you ask the user if their drawn signature is similar to the ID card sign?
My signature is basically habit and muscle memory from repeatedly writing my name with a generally standard sized pen. It varies a bit at the best of times. Even if you ask me to sign on a whiteboard ...
- 301
17
votes
Should form 'Continue' button be disabled if validation is incomplete?
we often see the 'continue' button inactive
I think this may be false. Read on!
For what it's worth, I'm updating some old research on sign up forms for popular websites at the moment, and have ...
- 70.7k
17
votes
Should validation be done in a pop-up window or a new page?
Inline Field Validation
I would recommend to stay on the same-tab, with validation in-place (inline) like this example:
This is a common design paradigm now that web form internet users are ...
- 488
16
votes
Real-Time validation, Good or Bad UX
Rather than continuously display a red validation message when the user has not met a field's requirements, a nice alternative is to (1) display a tip that tells the user what is expected, and (2) ...
- 271
13
votes
Accepted
Why do so many forms use input masks in for input fields?
Input masks are often done poorly as you describe, but done right they can be very helpful by reducing typing and showing expected formats. Doing them right is key.
Maybe I have an input for social ...
- 356
13
votes
Should form 'Continue' button be disabled if validation is incomplete?
One should not disable the button
Consider the situation from the user's perspective. Divide users into two groups
Those that do not currently believe they can proceed, so are not looking for a way ...
- 651
13
votes
How would you ask the user if their drawn signature is similar to the ID card sign?
Can we start with the obvious: Why?
Follow up questions:
Are you assuming your app has the same legal power as a "wet signature"? You may be in for a surprise!
Do you have anybody on staff who is ...
- 239
12
votes
Friendly format for phone numbers
There are simply too many rules to validate a phone number input by a user.
1. Phone numbers are ultimately just a string of numeric digits
Here is one example showing how to convert anything a user ...
- 15.8k
12
votes
Real-Time validation, Good or Bad UX
It depends on the type of Input Field.
For the Email Field:
You don't wanna be too jumpy. Let the user finish typing the email address.
If the input field turns red with an error-text at the moment ...
- 3,540
11
votes
Accepted
Form validation - When should error messages be triggered?
One relevant study that springs to mind is described by Luke Wroblewski in Inline Validation in Web Forms. It found that validating inputs prematurely can be harmful and that validating fields after ...
- 14.2k
10
votes
How do I manage form validation for either/or fields
Since the validation is for two fields they should be marked together. I prefer, when the UI says what's wrong. So I sugest to have a message below the validation like "Please fill in either a city or ...
- 2,912
9
votes
Bad error message for required field: "Please enter value"
This is known as "microcopy" in the UX world. A couple of good resources include
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2013/06/17/five-ways-prevent-bad-microcopy/
Nielsen-Norman group has a number of ...
- 1,091
9
votes
Accepted
How to tackle a form with 50+ fields?
Separate the UX from the implementation concerns
This will help simplify the problem by clarifying priorities and through decomposition.
Usually, the first priority with a complex form is to ...
- 40.4k
9
votes
Accepted
Should comboboxes/radio groups be marked "required" in a form?
It is recommended to select a default. It is also very helpful that you already know the most popular choice, which you would obviously put first in the list and preselect.
Marking mandatory input is ...
- 8,656
8
votes
Friendly format for phone numbers
The best solution I've found (5 years after the question was asked) is "intl-tel-input". It uses Google's libphonenumber library for validation.
"intl-tel-input" is a jQuery ...
- 181
8
votes
Make user aware that he cannot enter arbitrary values into textbox?
In HTML5, the input element supports the step attribute. Example: http://jsfiddle.net/yhffroa1/
However, not all browsers support it yet. IE in particular doesn't have spinner buttons for <input ...
- 331
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible