[thelist] usability

Alida Ladak Alida_Ladak at otpp.com
Tue Dec 2 10:17:26 CST 2003





hi all,

I'm working on a page where dates are displayed with the following format:
2-Dec-03.  The client wants a new feature that allows the user to input and
submit a date. The client is not willing to invest in validation of the
entry. I've been told that 98% of the time, the year that's entered by the
user will/should be 2002 or 2003.

I can't decide between using:
 - three drop down boxes for the date, month & year respectively
(personally, I don't like drop downs that offer more than a dozen options -
- I'd rather enter in the date than find the number in a list of 31)
- using one text box for the date, and two drop down boxes for the month
and year (my instinct says it's bad design to mix the two formats)
- three text boxes with "dd" "mmm" "yy" within to guide the user (b/c the
user can enter any year, this is least preferable)

I've googled but can't find any specific usability results and rather than
use my instinct and personal preferences, I thought I'd ask the wise ones.

much appreciated,

Alida



More information about the thelist mailing list