[IxDA Discuss] 'Select Country' dropdown

[Bryan Haggerty]

I had a similar situation where users needed to select multiple
countries. The version I inherited was a basic select box with
countries sorted alphabetically and required the user to control-click
to select multiples. Certainly wasn't the easiest solution, as for
one, it was difficult to navigate and required extra instructions on
how to select multiple countries.

The solution I ended up designing took a bit of research as I wanted
to "bubble up" the most commonly selected countries as well as make it
easier to navigate around the country list and more apparent that
multiple countries could be selected. The top 5 countries were the
countries most often selected by users (and there were countries I did
not assume, so the homework was a good idea), followed by an alpha
sorted list of countries. The design also included a small hyperlinked
alphabet at the top of the list of countries, which allowed the user
to quickly jump the list to a particular section of the list with
countries that started with the selected letter. Each country also
featured a checkbox for selection for a more apparent connection with
the fact that the user could select multiple.

Bryan Haggerty
User Experience Designer
JPMorgan Chase

On Dec 17, 9:46 am, "Billy Cox" <bi... at oldworldspices.com> wrote:
> In filling out various web forms, I have noticed two interaction standards
> specifically related to dropdowns in which the user selects their country of
> residence.
>
> 1 -- List is alphabetical (placing United States near the end of the list)
>
> 2 -- Most likely selection(s) at the top of the list, with remainder of list
> alphabetical.
>
> Which one would you use and what would influence your decision?
>
> Billy Cox
> Old World Spices
> bi... at oldworldspices.com
>
> ________________________________________________________________
> *Come to IxDA Interaction08 | Savannah*
> February 8-10, 2008 in Savannah, GA, USA
> Register today:http://interaction08.ixda.org/
>
> ________________________________________________________________
> Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)!
> To post to this list ....... disc... at ixda.org
> Unsubscribe ................http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe
> List Guidelines ............http://www.ixda.org/guidelines
> List Help ..................http://www.ixda.org/help