In-context descriptions or hints can help clarify what goes inside each form field, and therefore improve completion and conversion rates. There are many ways to provide hints. A common implementation is by inserting instructions within form fields. Unfortunately, user testing continually shows that placeholders in form fields often hurt usability more than help it.
Labels and Placeholders
Labels tell users what information belongs in a given form field and are usually positioned outside the form field. Placeholder text, located inside a form field, is an additional hint, description, or example of the information required for a particular field. These hints typically disappear when the user types in the field.
Figure 2b shows a frequently observed error where the user has moved the document icon to a position just outside the Trash icon. Since most of the outline icon overlaps the Trash icon, the novice user may think that the Trash has been indicated as the destination for the document, but in actual
Suggest a password change at moments when people are focused on updating their settings, and possibly at other times when they are less focused on a particular task. Add a tip about changing and remembering their password in the Settings area, and in your email newsletter. And if the app or website
Enbridge employees can easily access the company’s public information on social sites — including Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube — via links in the middle of the homepage. This section also includes a link to the @enbridge blog. Providing quick access to external sites raises
Blockchain Scalability: Even If Most Transactions Are in Layer II We Still Need a Layer I
Some view layer I solutions as the only way of sticking to blockchain’s ‘true’ principles of full transparency and intrinsic security. Others, though, see this transparency as problematic in and of itself, and argue that full security can be achieved off chain. On-chain transfers also take a
A 60-Second Trailer of the 60-Day Report on Cybersecurity
Melissa Hathaway came across our radar recently when President Obama tasked the former Bush administration aide with leading a 60-day review of Bush’s Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative; a largely classified, purported $30 billion, multi phase plan to address cybersecurity issues
A 60-Second Trailer of the 60-Day Report on Cybersecurity
She explained that the original design of the Internet was driven more by considerations of interoperability rather than security, and as a result we are now faced with almost insurmountable issues. Some examples include online criminals who steal our information, mass bandits who have the ability
Net Promoter Score: What a Customer-Relations Metric Can Tell You About Your User Experience
In your journeys across the web, you probably have encountered the now ubiquitous question “How likely are you to recommend this website to a friend?” It is the question behind the net-promoter score, a customer-loyalty metric that is often used as a gauge of your user experience. The net
autocomplete placeholders in form fields are harmful apply
Banner Blindness Revisited: Users Dodge Ads on Mobile and Desktop
Your browser does not support the video tag. This gaze replay shows a mobile user searching for an external hard drive on www.pcmag.com. She had been reading text and scanning images of hard drives. When a large ad for a Samsung Galaxy appeared, she fixated on it a few times. The ad was hard to
UX Responsibilities in Scrum Ceremonies
When backlog items reach an acceptable level of detail and context, it’s important that they also meet your team’s definition of ready to be pulled into a sprint. This requirement safeguards the team from pulling in sprint tickets that lack the information needed to do productive work, thus
Contextual Menus: Delivering Relevant Tools for Tasks
Though there are many ways to trigger and present contextual menus, at their core, these UI elements aim to provide users with the most important commands and relevant tools they need to complete tasks easily within their given context. For more on designing effective contextual menus, take our
Why Personas Fail
Put together an action plan, pitch personas to leadership, analyze prior failures and address corresponding solutions, and communicate the business value of personas to build buy-in. Educate your colleagues, refer to personas in meetings, and solidify their place on your projects. Circle back and
Store Finders and Locators
Our initial research on store locators was conducted 18 years ago. Our subsequent studies have found that the majority of our initial findings have remained stable, though many of our guidelines have been updated to reflect modern design trends and developments, as well as changes in user behavior
WP Engine Supports the Domain Connect Project .
Domain Name Servers (DNS) are the equivalent of The Yellow Pages for the Internet. They store and maintain a directory of domain names and translate them to Internet Protocol (IP) addresses. Humans access information online via domain names like wpengine.com and web browsers communicate via IP
mobile placeholders in form fields are harmful 3
WP Engine All Hands Spring 2019: US
Last week, WP Engine employees from all over the U.S. came together at our Austin headquarters for the first biannual All-Hands event of 2019. All Hands is a two-day event in which employees from other offices and teams around the country get the chance to collaborate and strategize with one
Fortune Names WP Engine a Best Place to Work in 2018 .
At WP Engine, we believe our people are the core of every success, award, milestone and every achievement. That’s because employees who truly feel empowered and validated by their workplace are energized to delight and inspire the customer in every interaction. When new employees walk through the
UX Expert Reviews
Domain knowledge about the problem that your system attempts to solve can be helpful in understanding the goals and limitations of the system, but is not necessary to conduct a thorough, effective design review. It is more important that the reviewer has expertise in usability and user experience
Using Swipe to Trigger Contextual Actions
Because swipe was originally used to delete an item from a list, most users who have learned the gesture expect it to reveal some destructive actions. While many implementations do associate such actions with swipe (e.g., unsubscribe in the YouTube app), others reveal completely unexpected options
Expandable Menus: Pull-Down, Square, or Pie?
Fitts’ law says that the time to reach Target A is shorter than the time to reach any of the other targets. Although Targets A and B have the same size, the distance from cursor to A (d1) is shorter than the distance to B (d2), so movement to A will be faster. Target C is placed at the same
Rapid Experiments are Key to Making AI Technology Buy vs Build Decisions
Usually, this is due to the emergence of data science teams or the sheer lack of ability of the data science team to communicate with business functions. Hiring a few data scientists does not necessarily give an enterprise the ability to build and integrate quality AI solutions at scale. The sooner
AI-Based Framework for Agile Project Management
With the recent trends towards automation, machine learning and artificial intelligence as it appears that just the application of AI can not transform the enterprise computing as now, it has the power to change project management as well. A well-known core concept with AI systems is that their
Repositioning Your Brand Against Cybercrimes Through VPNs
The service-level agreements (SLAs) between the VPN service provider and the customer is of immense importance. You must be equipped with the information before a contractual agreement is reached. These agreements contain the service criteria, and you need this to make sure the services you
9 Steps to Assess Whether a Startup is Suitable for Investment
Also, keep in mind the presence of earning potential, sustainable competitive advantage and potential market share. Finally, the “what” is focusing on the questions regarding the list of top customers, strategic relationships. Suppliers need to be considered, as well as on the thorough analysis
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Do You Have What it Takes to Be a Miserable Entrepreneur?
Apple booted Jobs in 1985. Papa John’s founder John Schnatter is carrying on like a spurned lover after his company cut ties with him. Groupon ejected founder Andrew Mason. Yahoo cut Jerry Yang loose. Uber showed Travis Kalanick the curb. Such is the paradox of entrepreneurship: you need to love
Coming to Terms – Why Terms of Use are Critical for Your Company
In order to comply with the requirements of the DMCA defense to infringement, your Terms of Use need to include (a) clause that states you will take down/remove any material that turns out to be copyrighted if the violation is brought to your attention, (b) provide a method by which the third-party
Placeholders in Form Fields Are Harmful | Fancy Formatting, Fancy Words = Looks Like a Promotion = Ignored
Fancy Formatting, Fancy Words = Looks Like a Promotion = Ignored
Sadly, in this case, neither search, nor navigation, nor the Population Finder led the majority of users to the correct answer. Indeed, search was particularly bad on this site. One user said, "I know where I can probably find it faster: Google," and promptly abandoned the official Census Bureau
Page Parking: Millennials' Multi-Tab Mania
Growth in the number of browser tabs over time during one usability-testing task. The currently active tabs are shown in blue. Red represents tabs that have been closed by the user; those tabs were thus no longer present in the browser’s tab bar. In total, the study participant employed 12
Banner Blindness: The Original Eyetracking Research, 10-year research overview
As the replay shows, the user did fixate once within the ad, but at that moment, the ad is obscured by a pull-down menu. In reality, the user couldn't see the message; the fixation was clearly a mistake that occurred while she was trying to reacquire the menu after briefly looking away from the
