When is it appropriate to 'auto advance' from one text field to the next, as in phone numbers and SSN?
Answer
Because this behavior is rare and therefore unexpected, it will surprise most novice users, which can cause them to misunderstand how to use the interface, and interfere with usability.
(An example of this interference might be if the user fills out the field and presses tab, while you have auto-advanced, and while they think they are typing in the next field, they discover that they are actually typing in the field after the next field).
However if you have very experienced users who use your form every day, they will grow accustomed to this behavior and appreciate the shortcut.
So I would say
don't do it if your users only occasionally use this form, for example, if this is the sign up form of your web site.
consider it only if your users visit this page again and again, for example, if you are providing a user interface for call-center agents to enter data which they enter many times a day.
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