sleepy_az
msg:3885789 | 9:03 am on Apr 5, 2009 (gmt 0) |
I'm all for relational structure - great for flexibility, scalability, keeping things simple... though I'm sure you've considered all of this. If your single field idea works and you have good methods to extract values when users select multiple groups - then go for it. As for the issue of usability - before trying to offer suggestions - the main consideration would be the type of user who will be filling out the form. Are they internal or external? Will they have existing knowledge of the groups? And so on... Another issue would be whether the group names could be "grouped" in any way (e.g. creating 4 lists of 20 names each)
However even 80 items in a drop-down menu may not be too long - especially if they suit being displayed in some order i.e. alphabetical. Just look at the size of lists that one uses when selecting 'country' on some forms. Finally - if you are going to have the user manually enter in the group - and then validate it - perhaps some type of predictive 'on-screen' matching would help. The idea of allowing user to manually enter the names really depends on their familiarity with the group names and the possibility of errors in their attempts. Would be a good case of some old fashioned usability testing...
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tangor
msg:3885791 | 9:21 am on Apr 5, 2009 (gmt 0) |
Reduce the number of options, ie, top down by category to specific. Leave nothing to chance. And always remember the USER IS STUPID. If you have 80 options you can't do it in one form. Otherwise you have 80 errors possible each form.
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zollerwagner
msg:3885938 | 6:18 pm on Apr 5, 2009 (gmt 0) |
Thanks for your replies. And two very different answers they are! The options will be organized alphabetically, so that'll help users search them. Most of the users will be at least minimally familiar with the categories. It'd be great if it were possible in a form's select element to show major categories in bold and then indent each category's entries. Can a drop down menu do that?
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sleepy_az
msg:3885982 | 7:56 pm on Apr 5, 2009 (gmt 0) |
Yes - sounds like discussions at the usability lab - everyone with differing ideas to test out. In terms of categorizing within a select element - using just plain text - you could do something like: =========
Category A
- group a1
- group a2
=========
Category B
- group b1
- group b2
- group b3
=========
and so on.... CHECKBOXES
Another idea would be to test out the form using CheckBoxes (yes, 80 of them :) Actually you might find that this is the most "easy to use, fool proof" approach in terms of usability and reducing error rate.
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zollerwagner
msg:3886048 | 9:56 pm on Apr 5, 2009 (gmt 0) |
Sleepy_az, how would you code this? =========
Category A
- group a1
- group a2
=========
Category B
- group b1
- group b2
- group b3
=========
and so on....
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sleepy_az
msg:3886050 | 10:12 pm on Apr 5, 2009 (gmt 0) |
It would just be a standard <select> element - with the "========" and "Category X" being blank options - and every group item beginning with "-". <select>
<option value="">=========</option>
<option value="">Category A</option>
<option value="a1">- group a1</option>
<option value="a2">- group a2</option>
<option value="">=========</option>
<option value="">Category B</option>
<option value="b1">- group b1</option>
</select> The problem with it is that there are 'empty' values that a user could select - you'd just need to validate these. At least this approach keeps things simple - is accessible to most - and can easily be generated from a database list of groups, or manually entered when setting up the form. Whether it's a preferred approach in terms of usability...
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zollerwagner
msg:3886076 | 11:56 pm on Apr 5, 2009 (gmt 0) |
Ah, that makes sense. Thanks, Sleepy_az for a very complete answer!
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encyclo
msg:3886270 | 10:18 am on Apr 6, 2009 (gmt 0) |
You can use optgroup for this: <select>
<optgroup label="Category A">
<option value="a1">Group a1</option>
<option value="a2">Group a2</option>
</optgroup>
<optgroup label="Category B">
<option value="b1">Group b1</option>
<option value="b2">Group b2</option>
<option value="b3">Group b3</option>
</optgroup>
</select>
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sleepy_az
msg:3886275 | 10:24 am on Apr 6, 2009 (gmt 0) |
Sweet - learn something new all the time. Thanks for that!
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zollerwagner
msg:3886276 | 10:53 am on Apr 6, 2009 (gmt 0) |
Nice one! Thanks, Encyclo.
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