Comments on: More Usable Forms http://jimneath.org/2008/05/12/more-usable-forms/ Ruby on Rails, Javascript, CSS and Standards Fri, 05 Sep 2008 21:40:38 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 By: ritchielee http://jimneath.org/2008/05/12/more-usable-forms/#comment-518 ritchielee Sat, 26 Jul 2008 16:12:05 +0000 http://jimneath.org/?p=24#comment-518 Just a note about submit and reset. Reset is an annoyance on the web; there's no need for it as we use the back button more often if we make a mistake. It's just a hang up from old school programming that felt all GUI controls should be brought online. There's no real thought. So that solves the right and left problem - just don't have a reset. See more at: http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20000416.html Just a note about submit and reset. Reset is an annoyance on the web; there’s no need for it as we use the back button more often if we make a mistake. It’s just a hang up from old school programming that felt all GUI controls should be brought online. There’s no real thought. So that solves the right and left problem - just don’t have a reset. See more at: http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20000416.html

]]> By: Jarkko Laine http://jimneath.org/2008/05/12/more-usable-forms/#comment-172 Jarkko Laine Thu, 15 May 2008 14:26:41 +0000 http://jimneath.org/?p=24#comment-172 Nice tips, I have been preaching about the label element for far too long: http://jlaine.net/2006/3/14/usability-tip-2-use-the-label-tag There's a recent book by Luke Wroblewski (http://www.rosenfeldmedia.com/books/webforms/) that I highly recommend regarding form usability. It's got a lot of research put into advice on everything forms-related, e.g. about the button placement you talk about above. Nice tips, I have been preaching about the label element for far too long: http://jlaine.net/2006/3/14/usability-tip-2-use-the-label-tag

There’s a recent book by Luke Wroblewski (http://www.rosenfeldmedia.com/books/webforms/) that I highly recommend regarding form usability. It’s got a lot of research put into advice on everything forms-related, e.g. about the button placement you talk about above.

]]> By: Jim Neath http://jimneath.org/2008/05/12/more-usable-forms/#comment-151 Jim Neath Tue, 13 May 2008 08:30:17 +0000 http://jimneath.org/?p=24#comment-151 I'll be honest, I just showed one on the left and one on the right to show how you <em>could</em> make them more distinguishable. I use both a windows machine and a mac machine but I usually place both on the left and make the main action button more dominant than the sub actions. There was an article somewhere about usability that explained why the main action should go on the left hand side but I can't recall where I read it at the moment. If I can find it I'll post it up. I’ll be honest, I just showed one on the left and one on the right to show how you could make them more distinguishable.

I use both a windows machine and a mac machine but I usually place both on the left and make the main action button more dominant than the sub actions.

There was an article somewhere about usability that explained why the main action should go on the left hand side but I can’t recall where I read it at the moment. If I can find it I’ll post it up.

]]> By: Chris Vincent http://jimneath.org/2008/05/12/more-usable-forms/#comment-148 Chris Vincent Mon, 12 May 2008 22:26:29 +0000 http://jimneath.org/?p=24#comment-148 Great tips! I do take slight issue with always having the submit button on the left and reset/cancel on the right... This is an interface standard which varies by the OS. On Macs, the OK button is always on the right, while on Windows it is always on the left. I tend to place it on the right side because I'm a Mac user, and also because the right side just makes more sense to me (for the same reason pagination has "previous" on the left and "next" on the right). A small nitpick, and perhaps it's best to follow the standards of the majority platform or even do some detection. Honestly I think that as long as the submit button is given a distinguishing style to make it "pop" out at the user, usability is enhanced no matter which side the button is placed on. Great tips! I do take slight issue with always having the submit button on the left and reset/cancel on the right… This is an interface standard which varies by the OS. On Macs, the OK button is always on the right, while on Windows it is always on the left. I tend to place it on the right side because I’m a Mac user, and also because the right side just makes more sense to me (for the same reason pagination has “previous” on the left and “next” on the right).

A small nitpick, and perhaps it’s best to follow the standards of the majority platform or even do some detection. Honestly I think that as long as the submit button is given a distinguishing style to make it “pop” out at the user, usability is enhanced no matter which side the button is placed on.

]]>