Thursday, September 6, 2018

Integer input field: special case for unbounded / unlimited


I am developing a form where the user needs to enter the maximum number of allowed things. Zero is a legitimate value meaning that none are allowed.


I need to find a special value to indicate that there is no limit (using a number slider is, unfortunately, not an option).


Which could be the best alternative among the following ones?




  • Leaving the field blank means unbounded; note that this may conflict with a user request to make the field mandatory

  • Use -1 as the special value

  • Use N as the special value

  • Use 99,999 or something like that as the special value


Here is a mockup showing each alternative.


mockup


download bmml source – Wireframes created with Balsamiq Mockups



Answer



You should add a check box that indicates that the number of things are limited.

(Thus: An unchecked box indicates that there are unlimited number of items).


mockup


download bmml source – Wireframes created with Balsamiq Mockups


No comments:

Post a Comment

technique - How credible is wikipedia?

I understand that this question relates more to wikipedia than it does writing but... If I was going to use wikipedia for a source for a res...