How should users type in a formatted time or duration field? (Data entry into duration field)
I would like our users to type in a time field for a grid column filter. The time field will be formatted in a hours and minutes format like HH:MM or HHH:MM.
My question is how should we allow users to type in this format. This is similar to this question: Time (duration) entry in webapp - pros/cons of various designs with options 1-3 being considered.
I have been considering the following options:
- Users type and as they go and the numbers are placed in the HH:MM format. So as a user types "1 2 3 4" they see 00:01, 00:12, 01:23, and 12:34.
- Users type first on the hours side of the colon, and then must use the right arrow to manually shift to the right side of the colon.
Another question I am considering is if we do have the HHH:MM field and the user types more than 5 numbers, should we accept the first 5 numbers or the last 5 numbers?