Re: [IxDA Discuss] Required fields - one or the other
I personally would not want to fill a phone number field in any form, especially into a machine knowing that it will get stored in some database. So I won't know who can misuse it anytime. If the users for whom you design for think that giving a phone number there can serve them (such as confirmation for an expensive courier delivery, or sort of something that mean important to them) it is fine to ask for a phone number. Otherwise always provide with an alternate as Marcus suggests to have one field asking for either email or phone. The forms I saw in the examples mentioned above have labels positioned to the left of the input fields. I have been lately reading repeatedly at many places advising to place the form labels above the input fields. Hope this helps too :) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=46747 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
[IxDA Discuss] Required fields - one or the other
Can anyone point to examples of forms that require one or the other of something? For instance, a contact form where either email -or- phone is required. The context is I have a web app that has search fields in which some combination of elements is needed. There could be as many as a dozen different search criteria, and out of those there are up to four primary fields and only one of which needs to be filled in (doesnt matter which one, they have equal weight). 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
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Required fields - one or the other
Brian, As a simple answer, you can address it with a description for that section stating that either field is required and grouping them into logical areas (e.g. Sign-in information, Contact information, Personal details, etc). Here are some samples from Chris Messina's flickr design patterns stream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/factoryjoe/3048752006/in/set-72157609745241966/(look at how the contact group - top right - is excluded from being required) http://www.flickr.com/photos/factoryjoe/362711703/in/set-72157600010086705/(notice the -OR- which you could implement to state that at least one of the fields is required) Hope this helps, E On Wed, Oct 14, 2009 at 5:55 AM, Brian Mila brian.m...@trizetto.com wrote: Can anyone point to examples of forms that require one or the other of something? For instance, a contact form where either email -or- phone is required. The context is I have a web app that has search fields in which some combination of elements is needed. There could be as many as a dozen different search criteria, and out of those there are up to four primary fields and only one of which needs to be filled in (doesnt matter which one, they have equal weight). 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
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Required fields - one or the other
I just came across this example the other day tracking an order (so it sticks in my mind)... https://www.zzounds.com/ordertrack/ It has some obvious issues: the inputs aren't horizontally aligned, and the OR text is barely readable in yellow. So I wouldn't call it a good example. I probably remember it because I noticed the problems with it. But the general method of grouping related required fields with text (ex. provide one of the following) is an option; it just needs to be better executed than that example. Since in your case there are only 4 primary fields - all equally weighted, no dependency, that relatively simple solution should work. If the relationship were more complex, such as dependant fields (i.e. if you provide X you must also provide Z) then you might want to go with a dynamic form that updates based on selections. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=46747 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
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Required fields - one or the other
Here's a flawed example: http://www.regulations.gov/search/Regs/home.html#contactUs I don't like that the asterisk seems to be defined twice here. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=46747 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
Re: [IxDA Discuss] Required fields - one or the other
Hi, I'd suggest a single input field with the label reading, Email or phone. Use some 'hint' text to give examples of both or an explanation that either is ok. The coding of the field validation will increase in complexity a bit, but your user's wont care about that. Cheers. Marcus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=46747 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
