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| Each month Dr. Eric Schaffer answers selected questions on usable interface design. | Recent Questions |
| Archived questions and answers about ... |
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February 22, 2007 – submitted by Sebnem Karakurt of Jersey City, NJ |
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| Question: I am an HFI-CUA and I would like to know if there any studies around marking required versus optional fields on the Web. For example, if the application has 95% required fields, would it make more sense to mark optional fields instead of the required ones? What are some best practices around marking the optional fields? | Eric's response: The marking of required fields is not a universal practice. But it is generally useful, particularly when you expect the user may want to skip optional fields for privacy or time reasons (such as in registration forms). IF you decide to mark fields then you have to mark the required fields as this has become a de facto international standard. When marking the required fields this is generally done with an asterisk or similar mark next to the field. It is better to put it before the field (as this is a bit more logical for eye scan and also has better alignment. |
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January 29, 2007 – submitted by Jim O'Brien of Georgia, USA |
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Question: Has there been any research done to compare the preference or effectiveness of the vertical versus horizontal display for comparison purposes? Most of the time I see vertical displays of the data to go down the list of attributes and scan across for differences between options selected or presented. I see this when comparing car models in the industry but even on the back of software boxes that offer different versions, like Turbo Tax for example. I would appreciate your thoughts and you pointing me to any research you may have or have come across. Thank you in advance. |
Eric's response: If the number of items is not an issue then the design should mimic the task, with the first dimension on the left (where people will start) and the secondary data horizontally. If the user is looking for a car, and then checking for attributes, then the car is vertical. If the user is looking for an attribute, and then seeing what cars have it, then the attribute is on the vertical. But more often the decision is a function of the NUMBER of items. The horizontal can really only fit 7-10 items at most, while the vertical can fit 20-30. So if there are 5 car models and 25 attributes, the attributes WILL go on the vertical. |
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January 2, 2007 – submitted by Jenn Reid of Toronto, Canada |
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Question: I'm wondering if you have any opinions on labeling or language associated with "e-learning" or Web-based tutorials. Are there words or terms that people find particularly useful or intuitive? Do you think that words like "e-learning" intuitively encompass things like Webcasts, online seminars, Podcasts, and online tutorials? Your thoughts/opinions, "best practices" or research in the area that you can recommend would be greatly appreciated! |
Eric's response: In general we want to use the most specific language that the user will understand. So it is better to say Webcast instead of e-learning. The term "e-learning" is unnecessarily broad. At the same time we need to watch to see if our target population will understand the terms. We can't assume that people will all understand jargon like Podcast. It is good to test such terms during data gathering and usability testing. That is the best way to be sure. |
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