<div dir="ltr"><div><div><div><div>I don't have any specific recommendations, but hoped that these questions might help you refine the interaction design:<br></div><ol><li>Is the syntax well-defined based on your problem domain? The same phone number can be written as <a target="_blank" value="+16505555555" href="tel:%2B1%20%28650%29%20555-5555">+1 (650) 555-5555</a>, <a target="_blank" value="+16505555555" href="tel:6505555555">6505555555</a>, <a target="_blank" value="+16505555555" href="tel:650.555.5555">650.555.5555</a>, ...</li><ul><li>Would client-side parsing and formatting be better than showing an example? If the user types "<a target="_blank" value="+16505555555" href="tel:6505555555">6505555555</a>", format that for display "<a target="_blank" value="+16505555555" href="tel:%28650%29%20555-5555">(650) 555-5555</a>" either inline (tricky) or in an adjacent output text area. This shows the user that we understood their input, allows them to confirm things were input correctly, and allows the user to enter the number in whatever format they prefer.</li><li>Are there secondary validations that would be useful? It looks like a phone number, but is it a valid one that the user controls? Twilio specializes in this sort of stuff, and they have a useful Lookup API [0, 1].</li></ul><li>Is the syntax required to understand the contents of each field?</li><ul><li>The second link doesn't have any examples and seems pretty understandable, so maybe the placeholder text is superfluous?</li><li>If it's required, then how should it interact with assistive devices like screen readers? And is the low contrast problematic for visually-impaired users?</li><li>The disappearing text trick looks cool (though it doesn't seem to work in Firefox on my machine), but is it actually helpful for the user? Additionally, it implies that only http:// links (not the https:// links that are more preferred nowadays) are accepted.<br></li><li>I'm a fan of minimalism and Strunk/White's "omit needless words"
(perhaps more than this hastily-written email would seem to suggest)</li></ul><li>Is the user interested in what needs to be put in the box (syntax), or do they want to know how the information will be used (usage)? The "this will be used to sign into your account" comment is helpful, as would a "we won't spam you or share your email with anyone" promise.</li><li>Is your form interactive?</li><ul><li>Would progressive disclosure make the form less daunting at first? The more explanatory text and fields that are on a form (whether online or on paper), the worse your conversion rates are likely to be. At least for me, seeing forms with lots of fields or legalese makes me go "ugh, how much do I *really* need whatever the form will grant me?"</li><li>The business rules may vary based on some parts of the form input; for example, in OpenShift Online, we need to collect your county (for tax purposes) for the United States, but not for other countries, so we progressively disclose that input according to the country (which is completed "earlier" by virtue of being ordered first in the form, on the underlying assumption that most people complete forms top-to-bottom)<br></li></ul><li>Is there an intelligent default that can be automatically detected or inferred? For example, if you have the user's address, you can likely infer their timezone (which, as an aside, should be an IANA timezone [2] like America/New_York to properly handle daylight savings and other rules). Similar for currency, language, or other internationalization-related things like preferred number formatting. Of course, these should be overridable.<br></li></ol></div></div>My general thought with respect to implementation difficulty is a simple cost/benefit comparison:<br></div><div><ul><li>Is it a one-off? For example, a little web site to go along with an ad campaign for a limited time wouldn't justify as much investment.</li><li>Is it a problem shared by many applications? (phone number or email fields - or any of the other <a target="_blank" href="https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Element/input#Attributes">special HTML5 form inputs</a> - are a good indicator that the control is common across many different types of applications)</li></ul></div><div>PatternFly is great because we all benefit from the initial user research, design, and development effort, amortizing that initial upfront investment across all the users of it, so it's often worth spending a relatively long time working on something, especially if it improves key metrics like conversion rates (and general user/customer happiness). An example I really like is this country selector: explanation [3] and demo [4]<br><br></div><div>Best of luck!<br><br></div><div>Jonathan<br></div><div><br>[0] <a target="_blank" href="https://www.twilio.com/lookup">https://www.twilio.com/lookup</a><br>[1] <a target="_blank" href="https://www.twilio.com/blog/2016/03/announcing-caller-id-name-lookup.html">https://www.twilio.com/blog/<wbr>2016/03/announcing-caller-id-<wbr>name-lookup.html</a><br>[2] <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tz_database_time_zones">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tz_database_time_zones</a><br>[3] <a href="https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2011/11/redesigning-the-country-selector/">https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2011/11/redesigning-the-country-selector/</a><br>[4] <a href="http://baymard.com/labs/country-selector">http://baymard.com/labs/country-selector</a><br><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Nov 17, 2016 at 1:32 PM, Jessica Ryhanych <span dir="ltr"><<a target="_blank" href="mailto:jryhanyc@redhat.com">jryhanyc@redhat.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div style="word-wrap:break-word">Hey Leslie,<div>That is a great point – I found two examples of responsive forms that could be a workaround:</div><div><br></div><div>1. The syntax text stays visible when a user clicks, but only disappears as they start typing. See <a target="_blank" href="https://order.emporiumpies.com/">here</a>. (In step 1 of the form, pick Delivery to see a few examples.) </div><div><br></div><div>2. The syntax text gives the user an idea of the format needed and appears for about 1 second after clicking in the field. See <a target="_blank" href="https://stuffandnonsense.co.uk/contact">here</a>. (look for “Existing website address”)</div><div><br></div><div>Thoughts from everyone? Would this be challenging to implement? Depending on the length of the form, I could see option 1 becoming visually distracting.</div><div><br></div><div>Thanks,</div><div>Jessica</div><div><span class="gmail-m_8119456889254693335gmail-"><div>
<div style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:helvetica;font-size:12px;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;line-height:normal;word-wrap:break-word"><b><br class="gmail-m_8119456889254693335gmail-m_-707483426372222740Apple-interchange-newline">/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / </b></div><div style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:helvetica;font-size:12px;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;line-height:normal;word-wrap:break-word"><b><br></b></div><div style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:helvetica;font-size:12px;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;line-height:normal;word-wrap:break-word"><b>Jessica W. Ryhanych</b><br>Senior Designer, Employment Branding + Communications <br>Red Hat<br><a target="_blank" href="mailto:jryhanyc@redhat.com">jryhanyc@redhat.com</a></div>
</div>
<br></span><div><blockquote type="cite"><span class="gmail-m_8119456889254693335gmail-"><div>On Nov 17, 2016, at 10:52 AM, Leslie Hinson <<a target="_blank" href="mailto:lhinson@redhat.com">lhinson@redhat.com</a>> wrote:</div><br class="gmail-m_8119456889254693335gmail-m_-707483426372222740Apple-interchange-newline"></span><div><span class="gmail-m_8119456889254693335gmail-"><div dir="ltr">Thanks for sending this out Jessica. <div><br></div><div>One of the things that will be tricky if figuring out a solution for how this text behaves in the responsive states. That would be the advantage of putting syntax help inside the text box. However, I know that it's a usability issue when the syntax help disappears when the user clicks.<div><br></div><div>Leslie</div></div></div></span><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote"><span class="gmail-m_8119456889254693335gmail-">On Tue, Nov 15, 2016 at 2:18 PM, Jessica Ryhanych <span dir="ltr"><<a target="_blank" href="mailto:jryhanyc@redhat.com">jryhanyc@redhat.com</a>></span> wrote:<br></span><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div style="word-wrap:break-word"><span class="gmail-m_8119456889254693335gmail-">Hi PatternFly,<div><br></div><div>I’m gathering information during this sprint on syntax hints used in forms and need your feedback. What have you observed? What worked well? What did you find distracting? What use cases need to be addressed? </div><div><br></div><div>I’ve been reviewing an <a target="_blank" href="http://static.lukew.com/webforms_lukew.pdf">excerpt</a> from Luke Wroblewski’s book, Web Form Design, and found a few examples that might be food for thought.</div><div><br></div><div><b>Examples:</b></div><div><b><br></b></div><div>- syntax hint is below input field, left aligned, font color & weight is differentiated from label text</div></span><div><span id="gmail-m_8119456889254693335gmail-m_-707483426372222740cid:F89CBA9B-8C2D-49A3-8FFF-FBB6CDB89A48@rdu.redhat.com"><Screen Shot 2016-11-15 at 1.51.13 PM.png></span><span class="gmail-m_8119456889254693335gmail-"><br><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>- syntax hint is left aligned to input field, font color & weight is differentiated from label text</div></span><div><span id="gmail-m_8119456889254693335gmail-m_-707483426372222740cid:18FEC3B8-3B18-47F3-AE8E-ECBFADA2479F@rdu.redhat.com"><Screen Shot 2016-11-15 at 1.25.31 PM.png></span></div><span class="gmail-m_8119456889254693335gmail-"><div><br></div><div>- syntax hint follows label text, font color is differentiated from label, placement above input field</div></span><div><span id="gmail-m_8119456889254693335gmail-m_-707483426372222740cid:D77A7C7D-CEC5-4838-8507-62ACEB5CF4FB@rdu.redhat.com"><Screen Shot 2016-11-15 at 1.25.39 PM.png></span></div><span class="gmail-m_8119456889254693335gmail-"><div><br></div><div>Please share any examples from your daily work and/or other considerations I might have missed. Thanks!</div><div>Jessica</div><div>
<div style="font-family:helvetica;font-size:12px;font-style:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;line-height:normal;word-wrap:break-word"><b><br class="gmail-m_8119456889254693335gmail-m_-707483426372222740m_-4447492689366948385Apple-interchange-newline">/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / </b></div><div style="font-family:helvetica;font-size:12px;font-style:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;line-height:normal;word-wrap:break-word"><b><br></b></div><div style="font-family:helvetica;font-size:12px;font-style:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;line-height:normal;word-wrap:break-word"><b>Jessica W. Ryhanych</b><br>Senior Designer, Employment Branding + Communications <br>Red Hat<br><a target="_blank" href="mailto:jryhanyc@redhat.com">jryhanyc@redhat.com</a></div>
</div>
<br></span></div></div><span class="gmail-m_8119456889254693335gmail-"><br>______________________________<wbr>_________________<br>
Patternfly mailing list<br>
<a target="_blank" href="mailto:Patternfly@redhat.com">Patternfly@redhat.com</a><br>
<a target="_blank" href="https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/patternfly" rel="noreferrer">https://www.redhat.com/mailman<wbr>/listinfo/patternfly</a><br>
<br></span></blockquote></div><br></div>
</div></blockquote></div><br></div></div><br>______________________________<wbr>_________________<br>
Patternfly mailing list<br>
<a target="_blank" href="mailto:Patternfly@redhat.com">Patternfly@redhat.com</a><br>
<a target="_blank" href="https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/patternfly" rel="noreferrer">https://www.redhat.com/mailman<wbr>/listinfo/patternfly</a><br>
<br></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail-m_8119456889254693335gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div style="color:rgb(68,68,68);font-family:arial,"helvetica neue",helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:12px;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px"><span><span>Jonathan</span><span> </span><span>Yu</span><span> </span></span>/<span> </span><span>Software Engineer</span>,<span> </span><span>OpenShift</span><span> </span>by<span> </span><span>Red Hat</span><span> </span>/<span> </span><a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/jawnsy" style="color:rgb(49,175,89);text-decoration:none">Follow me on Twitter @jawnsy</a></div><br style="color:rgb(68,68,68);font-family:arial,"helvetica neue",helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:12px;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px"><i style="color:rgb(68,68,68);font-family:arial,"helvetica neue",helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:12px;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px">“Restlessness is discontent — and discontent is the first necessity of progress. Show me a thoroughly satisfied man — and I will show you a failure.”</i><span style="color:rgb(68,68,68);font-family:arial,"helvetica neue",helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:12px;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;display:inline;float:none"><span> </span>— Thomas Edison</span></div></div>
</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>