Updated: September 19, 2016
Select
Intro
The select control (also known as a dropdown list) allows users to select an item from a predefined list. The select control is composed of a select field and a list of options.
Do
- Display the selected option in the select field.
- Highlight the selected option when opening the option list.
- Use short text in the option list, because the text can’t be wrapped.
- Provide the value “(None)” in the option list, if you want to enable users to not select any option.
- When providing the “(None)” option, make it the first option and select it by default.
- When not providing a “(None)” option, define a default selected option.
- Sort options alphabetically, numerically, or logically to help users find the right option quickly.
Don’t
- Don’t provide a blank value to indicate that nothing is selected.
- Don’t allow the control to auto-adjust the width based on the selection.