Applying an input mask to the input field is an elegant solution. Try the jQuery masked input plugin: http://www.conetrees.com/2009/03/blog/jquery-masked-input-plugin-increase-usability-for-masked-format-input-fields/ -Abhay
-- Cone Trees- User Research & Design http://www.conetrees.com http://www.twitter.com/conetrees http://www.theuxbookmark.com http://uxbookclub.org/doku.php?id=new_delhi On Mon, Mar 2, 2009 at 9:39 PM, Shaun O'Connell <ndor...@gmail.com> wrote: > Hi IXDA'ers, > > I was trawling through the archives looking for a suitable discussion topic > to post against, and this one came up. > > I was recently inspired by a blog entry concerning calendar-based date/time > pickers< > http://blogs.uct.ac.za/blog/lovemores-world/2009/02/25/an-effective-jquery-date-time-picker > >to > create a more intuitive date/time picker. > I'm not sure about the rest of you, but some calendar controls frustrate me > as a user. Sometimes I'm forced to use a calendar control because it's > easier than interpreting the format for the single date field. > > Anyway, the post got me thinking about a different approach to date/time > pickers, leaning heavily on those old mechanical alarm clocks that had > dials > or cogs next to the hour and minute displays. Read more on the idea here: > http://ndorfin.wordpress.com/2009/03/02/rl-date-picker/ > > Will this idea end up being harder to understand than a fly-out calendar > picker? i.e. Does convention over-rule out-of-the-box UI ideas? > > Has anyone had any experience testing up-down-arrow or slider controls in > web-based forms? Could something like my 'tumbler' idea work if the > graphic > design is done properly? > > I'd love to have some feedback on this idea. Thanks! > > Cheers, > Shaun > > On Mon, Dec 1, 2008 at 11:14 AM, Pietro Desiato <pietro.desiato at > gmail.com>wrote: > > > hi all, > > > > I think that the date format could be an issue. I'd rather prefer a > > text field for day and year and a dropdown for month (it's also > > easier to select the month instead of either writing it or understand > > which format has been used). If you feel that the conversational > > paradigm is the way to go (as I do), think also about the label you > > want to associate to these fields. Maybe (I don't know your > > context\users) you can "melt" these input fileds with the label. > > Something like "I am born on [month dropdown] [day], [year]. Imho > > the calendar is a complex interaction (opening, browsing, selecting, > > closing) and I'd avoid it. > > > > > > . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . > > Posted from the new ixda.org > > http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=36010 > > > > > > ________________________________________________________________ > > Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! > > To post to this list ....... discuss at ixda.org > > Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe > > List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines > > List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help > > > > > ________________________________________________________________ > Reply to this thread at ixda.org > http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=39417 > > ________________________________________________________________ > Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! > To post to this list ....... disc...@ixda.org > Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe > List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines > List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help > ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help