| |
|
 |
Caroline's Corner: Colons at the end of labels?
Source: UN, 2 May 2006
Submitted by
Ann Light
It’s been a long month – lots to do, lots to think about. And what, in the whole wide world, am I going to thrill you with this month?
Well, my dear and loyal readers: it’s forms again. That’s what comes of a column written by a forms obsessive. This time: colons. Or should it be: 'This time: Colons'? Or is it: 'This time: Colons?'.
Yes, you are right. You have entrusted your valuable time to someone with a *double obsession*. Forms AND punctuation. Aargh. But stick with me – it gets better.
THE PROBLEM
You are writing captions or labels for fields in forms, for example “Name” or “Date of birth”.
Should they be finished with a colon, or not?
For example, The New York Times uses colons http://www.nytimes.com/regi
The Times (that is, the one based in London) does not. http://timesonline.financialexpress.net/timesonline/portfolio.wsp
THE ANSWER
If you have an answer, was it one of these?
'The form looks cleaner without the colons'.
'Colons add to development time, because each one is an extra keystroke'.
'If the caption is outside the box, use a colon. If it is inside the box, don’t'.
'Colons introduce the box and show that the label is distinctive'.
'Do whatever it says in the Chicago Manual of Style' (or whatever your preferred grammatical or punctuation guide might be).
'The Microsoft standard is to use colons. So they are essential' (or whatever your preferred user interface set of guidelines might be).
... or maybe you had some other ones. If you did, then welcome to my world! If you found yourself arguing with some of my answers then you, too, are showing incipient signs of double obsession.
THE REALITY
Why am I being light-hearted about this problem? Because, dear readers, it doesn’t matter. That’s right. I don’t care! And that's about a fine detail of forms that I am not caring! Who would have thought it?
The fact is that in over 15 years of testing all sorts of forms – paper, web, application, you name it – NEVER ONCE has any user commented on the presence or absence of colons. They don’t notice them. They don’t care. And so I have learned not to care either.
THE SOLUTION
So the thing to do is pick one method and stick with it. If you work in a democratic team, then vote. If you prefer to govern by diktat, then get the boss to choose. If you’re not sure how to choose, then flip a coin. But make the choice final. Inconsistency looks messy. Messy is bad - and messy is noticed by users.
And never, ever argue about it again.
If you have any comments or suggestions about this article then please contact Caroline at:
Caroline.Jarrett@Effortmark.co.uk
Caroline Jarrett is a usability consultant specialising in forms, questionnaires and data capture.
© 2006 Caroline Jarrett, all rights reserved.
Associated Link:
Effortmark
|
|
|
 |
|
All change at the top for System Concepts Source: System Concepts Ltd, 3 July 2009 Leslie Fountain has been promoted to joint Managing Director of leading usability consultancy System Concepts. Life in UCD immortalised in fiction: you couldn't make it up Source: UN, 2 July 2009 Sarah Herman's fictitious book on life in a user-centred design company has hit the shelves and The Guardian's book pages... Interfaces Magazine - Issue 79: The Education Issue Source: Interaction Group, 1 July 2009 The latest issue of Interfaces is now available as a free download from the Interaction Website. Two new Behavioural research Tools from Noldus Source: UN, 30 June 2009 Tool updates make on-site behavioural data collection easier. Cell Phones that Listen and Learn Source: MIT Technology Review, 29 June 2009 New software tracks a user's behavior by monitoring everyday sounds. Top Six Don’ts for Usability Testing Source: FutureNow Inc., 27 June 2009 Six tips for creating quality usability tests to ensure useful feedback from testers. Usability: ‘Lovely software. But I can’t work it’ Source: FT.com, 26 June 2009 In a recent survey by Global Graphics, 77 per cent of office workers estimate they lose up to one hour a week because business software is difficult to use.
And what do you do? Source: Dexo Design, 25 June 2009 How do you describe your job role? Here are the results of a recent 'Preferred UX/UI Title' Poll. Most Doctors cite Usability as critical to Electronic Health Record Adoption Source: TMCNet, 24 June 2009 It's all about 'meaningful use'. Glossy monitors look good but can hurt Source: QUT, 23 June 2009 A new advisory cites research which suggests high gloss monitors make users sit awkwardly.
|
|
|