These are visual language elements. There's no definitive rule on their use that I know of. Whether or not they're "good" depends on the visual and experiential context in which they are situated. For example, helptext in fields can be useful to prompt user action, to explain the content of a field, or to explain the scope of a search. Putting text in the field can be visually cleaner than finding a place to fit the helptext in the layout, useful in tight spaces such as headers. Obviously, you have to select a text shade that doesn't make it look prefilled. Colored text fields are used to indicate required fields as an alternative to highlighted labeling. If you have a long, scrolling form (vs. a simple signup) it could make for easier scanning to find the required fields, and in theory, faster form completion. On a login form, it would be overkill, or window dressing. If you use them, avoid garish colors or color combinations that interfere with readability. Also, stick with a consistent layout grid. Color highlighting will exaggerate the "jagged" effect of not aligning form fields.
--- On Tue, 2/2/10, Jayson Elliot <jayson.ell...@gmail.com> wrote: From: Jayson Elliot <jayson.ell...@gmail.com> Subject: [IxDA Discuss] "help text" in input fields - bad? To: disc...@ixda.org Date: Tuesday, February 2, 2010, 2:29 AM Does anyone have research to point to regarding the practice of placing instructional text in a field that is meant for user input? For example, on a site like http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ you see "Google custom search" inside the search field; or http://www.adobe.com/ writes "Search Adobe.com" inside theirs. I have read articles stating that this can depress overall usage of an input field, as some users become "blind" to the field if it is not empty, but can't find any now that I need them. Also, what about the use of colored input fields? Do non-white text boxes perform less well than standard white HTML input fields? ________________________________________________________________ Reply to this thread at ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=48953 ________________________________________________________________ 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
