Open rubinahaddad opened 10 years ago
Note that this is a polyfill for a native element, and there is no way to change the behaviour or appearance in Chrome's native appearance. Mobile devices will also likely have native versions that we do not control.
Description and Intended Usage The following list represents an evaluation of the date picker component. The purpose of this evaluation is to to identify use conditions (design patterns) where the date picker is an effective and efficient method for users to enter dates into online forms. This evaluation is based on: • Predictive modelling (using keystroke-level modelling software to predict how long humans typically take to enter dates using the calendar) • Moderated usability test (with volunteer participants) • WET Heuristic evaluation template
Recommended usage: For keyboard and mouse interactions, use the date picker when: • The user needs to view a calendar in order to identify a date, that is: o a specific day (for example, the first Monday in April), or o a sequence of days (for example, the last two weeks in August). • The user needs to enter a date within the current week or calendar month.
For keyboard and mouse interactions, do not use the date picker: • for Date of Birth; • when dates to be entered are (or could be) months or years distant from the date picker’s default date (for example, April 4, 2020); • as an optional control (with the intent of offering the user a secondary method of input); • if entering a wrong date can result in irreversible errors.
Recommendation rationale:
The keystroke model predicted that the date picker would be much quicker than other methods of entering dates, but only for dates within the current month or an adjacent month.
The moderated usability test validated the pattern that task times increased for dates that were distant from the current/default date picker date. However, the usability test showed that distant months/years took much longer to select than predicted and occasionally resulted in re-tries and user errors. Other date entry methods (such as a single text field, “YYYY-MM-DD”, or a series of drop down menus, “YYYY” “MM” “DD”) did not result in user errors.
Those longer task times were caused by the variety and complexity of the controls as well as errors while manipulating the Previous and Next arrows and the Go To link, as well as expecting the calendar to be updated when the month or year was changed in the drop down menus. (i.e., via the Go link). Further testing to explore these issues is recommended.
Participants’ behaviour show that it would not be appropriate to offer the date picker as an “alternative choice” for the user. Users are not able to make an ‘informed’ choice between the calendar icon or date field because they expect the calendar to be most efficient for all conditions, but they are unaware of the conditions under which the calendar takes longer to use and can lead to user errors.
Quick Compliance Checklist A. Please indicate which devices, browsers, and operating systems were tested (Desktop/Mobile/Tablet): Desktop - Windows 7, IE8
B. Provide status feedback
This item and issue #17 are now inextricably linked - to be treated as one item :-)
Please perform a heuristic review of the following component: Date picker example.
Performing a heuristic evaluation