Omiting label element on self-explanatory form
I have a form that consists of an input box and a button. The button says “Search”. For sighted users, it seems that no label element is required for the input box as it is obvious that you enter search terms into the box and submit the fo…
Should we allow special characters or numbers in name field?
I need a generic validation for first and last name field that will be used everywhere.
Currently I’m using:
/^[A-Za-z]?[A-Za-z ]*$/
Driving users attention through opacity masks (reading rhythm)
I was reading this handy answer about Light on dark vs. dark on light: which is better for attention span? in the Graphic Design SE site and while reading the most voted answer I discovered that my attention focus point was almost a 100% j…
selecting multiple items from a short list, and marking one of them as "leader"
Several forms in our B2B web app allows users to choose multiple items from a shortlist of items. Here’s one example:
Now I need to figure out a pattern to allow users to choose a "leader" item from among the selected items, whe…
How to indicate that specific sections of a page can be swiped
There are a lot of mobile UI design patterns that support swiping, and these are designed based on interaction and animation that indicate the behaviour. Examples include the ‘swipe/pull down to refresh’ and also the page flip when users s…
When you have a side panel open, and the user scrolls, is it better to leave it open or to auto close the panel?
Say you have a side menu that opens from one side after clicking on an icon in a website. This menu would take more than 40% of the view-port in the horizontal direction.
If the user scrolls down, is it better to let the user click on the…
Why Greek letter mu (μ) on European keyboards?
AZERTY-style keyboard layouts in France and Belgium have a dedicated key for typing the Greek small letter mu (μ). While not having a dedicated (μ) key, keyboards in Germany, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden provide a means to…
Alternative questions to the Net Promoter Score or better metrics of User Experience
There are some very detailed discussions about the validity of the NPS. But the take home message is that you can’t really improve what you can’t measure effectively, so it is still important to come up with metrics (preferably from a numb…
Why are most game controllers left handed?
Most game controllers (game pads, joysticks) use the left hand for directional control, which is also the task that requires the most dexterity. Most people are right handed, but end up using their favoured hand for button mashing.
Back i…
"New" vs. "Create"
For buttons that initiate some content creation interaction, which label is better:
“New X” or “Create X”? Are there specific uses that in which one is better than the other?