Remembered Choices
Use when: |
The user is likely to reenter text previously typed, or repeat
choices previously made. In particular, they might come back
later and have to reenter entire sets of choices or settings.
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Why: |
Save the user the trouble of redoing all these things, and
remember the previous settings for them. Computers are
good at that. People aren't.
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How: |
There are several techniques you can use to do this. From the
simplest to the most complex:
- Use the previous value of the control as the default
value. This works for all kinds of controls -- text
fields, dropdowns, radio buttons, lists, etc.
- If you're using a text field, turn it into a combo box
(which is a combination of a typable text field and a
dropdown). Each time the user enters a unique value into
the text field, make a new dropdown item for it. If you
really want to get fancy, use the dropdown items to do
automatic completion on what the user's typing!
- Let the user save a whole page of settings. The user
names the group of settings and saves it under that name; later,
they can choose to load those settings by name.
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