Comments on: Avis: Trying Too Hard?

By: The Dock: Login

The Dock: Login — Wed, 14 Sep 2005 21:08:07 +0000

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By: Chris Cavallucci

Chris Cavallucci — Mon, 12 Sep 2005 14:56:34 +0000

My teams have struggled with these issues, too. I’ve heard developers argue for and against asterisks on required or optional fields. Developers ask: “When do we process the input data? Should we process the whole form upon click of the submit button? Or, should we evaluate a response field-by-field?”

On some projects we decided to forego the asterisk representation altogether since we process the form field-by-field, checking the field input for length, data type, and value range using JavaScript. If it’s a required field, the form validation script checks to see if the field has cursor focus — if the field has focus and the length of the input is 0 and the user moves the cursor to a different field, the script alerts the user. If it’s an optional field, the script skips the 0-length check, but validates the input data if provided by the user.

Traditionally, this input validation technique has been purely client-side. Now, I wonder if we can continue to omit the asterisks and somehow use AJAX to validate the form data *AND* gather user behavior data. We could figure out which fields users skip, leave the site, etc.

By: Ron Fernandez

Ron Fernandez — Thu, 08 Sep 2005 01:32:37 +0000

Color and type weight could have been used to imply mandatory vs. optional fields without cluttering up the screen with asterisks. Bold & black/dark gray = mandatory, regular weight and lighter gray = optional. It’s not immediately obvious, but it is discoverable.

It’s a shame so few web designers have ever had traditional typographic training. Would improve things significantly.

By: Ben Byrd

Ben Byrd — Wed, 07 Sep 2005 22:29:37 +0000

Love you sites. Avis should have an optional section. “Fill this out if you feel like it.” I’m assuming the form went on from the graphic that you showed because I was thinking that wasn’t too long. Thanks.

By: DonnaM

DonnaM — Wed, 07 Sep 2005 05:14:01 +0000

Ahah! That’s interesting.

By: Jared Spool

Jared Spool — Tue, 06 Sep 2005 11:22:20 +0000

Well, the reason it hit our radar screen (and why it’s posted here) is just because it caused at least one user grief as we were watching. The user in question ground to a complete halt as she tried to reconcile her desire to provide mandatory information with information she didn’t have, such as Company name and Address 2.

She didn’t understand why that information would be mandatory…

By: DonnaM

DonnaM — Tue, 06 Sep 2005 05:08:14 +0000

Consistency is a lovely thing, and I generally use the magic asterisk too. However I’ve rarely see a user identify what’s happening – it is usually ‘fill in everything’ or ‘fill in what I think is OK and wait for the error’.

I also reckon you’d get this one pretty easily just because of context – middle initial is odd and there’s a star on it, therefore other things with a star must also be odd

By: Daniel Szuc

Daniel Szuc — Mon, 05 Sep 2005 14:29:12 +0000

How about a form that only includes mandatory fields? Even better, if its short and simple!

By: Eric Meyer

Eric Meyer — Mon, 05 Sep 2005 13:22:57 +0000

As a frequent Avis.com user, I can’t say I’d ever noticed this, though I probably don’t represent the typical user of the site.

I do have to give them major credit, however, for making their “would you like to sign up for our newsletter and special offers mailing list?” an opt-in checkbox: it defaults to unchecked, and you must check it in order to start getting their newsletter. I wish more companies were as respectful.