Would it be considered a good practice to add the word "Select..." as the first option of a dropdown list? I think it's redundant and not at all necessary and what is in the dropdown list should be only a list of options that are available, not instructions.
Am I wrong?
Edit: Just to make it clear, by first option I don't mean DEFAULT. Most of the answers are about default option being preselected etc. That's not what this question is about. It's about displaying the combobox with "Select..." or other instructional text so people know they have to select something in there.
Answer
A dropdown list (or combobox) should already be a clear indication that you need to select an item from there, so wasting the first item by telling someone this is redundant and a poor idea.
The only times that I would recommend having some other text in the dropdown are:
- when it is not essential to select an item
- when you want effectively to select all items.
Here are some examples:
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