[IxDA Discuss] 'Select Country' dropdown

[Billy Cox]

I cannot understand why a state dropdown would display state abbreviations
versus the actual name of the state. One would assume that the average user
knows the abbreviation of their own state, but I used to assume that
everyone knew that they could TAB through a form.

As for the maximum number of entries in a dropdown, I don't know that those
rules necessarily apply now that everyone has a scrolly-mouse and one can
also jump through the list by typing the first character of the desired
selection. 

I worked on a project a couple of years ago in which the client insisted on
having a dropdown populated with every employee in the company (1000+). They
were also in the thick of sub-prime mortgage lending, so long-term thinking
was not part of the company culture.

I think type-ahead controls (or whatever they are called) will replace
dropdowns in the foreseeable future and I won't shed a tear.




"I don't know if "states" fall into the same consistency rule, but over time
when I tab into a State field, I hit the letter N six or seven times (can't
remember which off the top of my head), and whether they use NC or North
Carolina, I almost always wind up on my state.  That is, even if you use
acronyms, use the order that's most consistent with what users expect.  In
my case, I expect to hit NY before NC, even though that's not truly
alphabetical.  Kind of odd how that turned out, but it's a weird sort of
consistency that works."