Why do physical keyboards still have built-in numpads?

Normally I use a wireless keyboard without a number pad and a mouse right next to it. Having started a new job, I was finding my right arm somewhat more sore. This was confusing until I realized:
Each time I swap mouse/keyboard with my r…
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Why are child-resistant packages sometimes easier to open by kids than adults?

Based on discussions with friends and colleagues there seem to be difficulties opening child-resistant packages in general. There are even stories of parents letting their kids (supervised) open child resistant-packages just because they c…
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"By posting this, you agree to our terms and conditions"

Is it okay to have a “By posting this, you agree to our terms and conditions” (i.e. like 4chan) as opposed to a “I agree to the terms and conditions” checkbox?
I read about automatic agreement to terms of service here on UX and how autoch…
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How many characters should typical address fields allow on an international website?

On an HTML form, What is the maximum amount of characters that should be allowed for:
Street Address 1
Street Address 2
Town/Suburb
State/Province (I would have drop downs for main countries, but I can’t list every one in the world)
Post…
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What is a proper verb form to use for a Web App?

I’m creating a web app for services like CRM, Helpdesk, etc, and I’m wondering what might be the best verb form to use to address users… Why?
There will be a lot of tooltips, help guides, instructions, etc, and most importantly…command bu…
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Should we ask for name on card even though it’s not required for credit card payments?

The name on card is not used when processing credit card payments. Paypal does not ask the user to enter the name on card when saving a card to the “wallet”, while Amazon.com does.
The benefit of asking for it is that the user can feel mo…
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What is the difference between Scenario and User Journey?

I have been doing some research in order to understand what is an scenario and what is a user journey. As I understood, after you develop your personas then you can create the scenarios for each one. Later you can think of some user journe…
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Should yes/no dialogs also have a cancel?

I remember once reading an article that said whenever you present a messagebox with a Yes/No choice, you should always also provide a Cancel button, even if it does the same as No.
The rationale was that if the users know that Cancel is a…
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Why are Inverted Colors considered an accessibility feature?

Why is it that, in most operating systems, the "Inverted Colors" display setting is considered an accessibility feature? Both Windows and OS X include this option so it seems to be a recognized feature and not a vendor-specific q…
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How can I deal with diverse gender identities in user profiles?

I’m trying to work out the wording for (preferably) a gender dropdown in a user profile of a site I’m working on. I want to be inclusive of people who don’t gender orient to either male or female ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_iden…