User interface elements we hate: Episode 1
What it is: A form field for a phone number that’s broken up into three sections.
Why I hate it: It’s fine when I know the phone number I’m entering. But if I’m entering a number I don’t know, I have to copy and paste it piecemeal rather than just plunking it in. More room for error.
Moreover, I think it represents laziness on the part of the developer. A developer looks at a phone field on a form and knows that people are going to enter their numbers in many different ways:
- (555) 555-5555
- 555-555-5555
- 5555555555
All of the above are acceptable, but you’ve gotta write software that’s smart enough to know what is and isn’t a phone number. It takes a little more work. Breaking the field up into three boxes takes away some of that extra effort (and instead makes the user do the work).
What I’d prefer: One big text field for my phone number. Duh.