[Sigia-l] HTML Multiple Select Widget

[Patrick Neeman]

Here's the details:

We have a bunch of web forms that have criteria for reporting.

A few items have the possibility for selecting multiple items, i.e. A, 
B, and D out of a list of A, B, C, D. We also have a second list where 
the options are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, for example, and 1, 2, and 4 can 
be selected.

We also have some items where mutliple selction can be made out of a 
list of about 50, and that's where multiple select using a list box is 
pretty much unavoidable.

The forms aren't necessarily long -- usually no more than a few options 
-- but we have a team member that is fully convinced that everything 
should be those multiple select list boxes.

And I haven't actually spec'ed one out (or worked somewhere where we 
did) in a long, long time -- we always used checkboxes because of the 
myriad of usability issues with those multiple select list boxes.

I want to back up some of my opinion with actual research.

Thanks.

P@

On Jan 13, 2005, at 2:49 PM, Anders Ramsay wrote:

> On Thu, 13 Jan 2005 14:26:56 -0800, Patrick Neeman
> <pat at nexisinteractive.com> wrote:
>> Are there any good reasearch papers or such on the HTML Mutliple 
>> Select
>> Widget vs. Checkboxes?
>>
> Listboxes are more powerful (e.g. you can select any sequence at a
> time) and more scalable (the internal scrolling) but are for those
> same reasons generally less user-friendly.
>
> Do you have more detail you can provide about the context in which the
> widgets will appear?
> How many list items will there be or will it vary?
> If it varies, how often will it vary?
> Are users generally expected to only want to choose one or two
> options, or many options?
> Will users be  using these checkboxes on a regular basis or only once
> in a while?
> Are users likely to want to select the same items over and over?
>
>  -Anders
>
>
---
Patrick Neeman
pat at nexisinteractive.com