Re: dropdown selections: default values or no?

Not to dig myself in deeper, but...

I completely agree that it's an important priority to preserve the
real-world metaphors of controls.

However, I also think that the request (how do I require an answer to a
yes/no question and feel confident that the user hasn't inadvertently
left the default selected?) is a legitimate need without a clear
solution.  In this case, breaking that metaphor is one technical
solution to this need.  Since I haven't thought of another solution that
I like, I do sometimes use the (admittedly flawed) approach of starting
with no radio buttons selected.  To me (and please note that I'm a
developer, not a usability person) this is far less clunky then a
drop-down with "Select one", "Yes", and "No" options.

(Presumably, if the job of a usability expert is to find the problems in
a web application, then the job of a developer is to create the
problems, right?)

:)

At any rate, I should certainly have mentioned that in the vast majority
of cases, a set of radio buttons should always have a default selection.

Jacob


-----Original Message-----
From: ACM SIGCHI WWW Human Factors (Open Discussion)
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Claudia Alden Case

Jacob,
I disagree with your suggestion of leaving none of the radio buttons on.

From a usability standpoint and by definition, radio buttons should
always have one choice selected.  Otherwise, you break the metaphor.  

Radio buttons got their name from the physical buttons used on radios to
select preset stations - when one of the buttons was pressed, it would
pop out when another button was pushed in.

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