Well done Caroline. On Dec 17, 2007 2:05 PM, Caroline Jarrett <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> In addition to other comments: > > I'm currently advising clients like this: > > 1. Check your databases. It's very likely that 5 to 10 countries > account for virtually all your traffic. > 2. Offer the most popular few countries and 'other' with a box to type > into. > > The apparently 'politically correct' list of just under 200 is more > problematic than it initially appears: > > - countries change official names more often than you might think > - some jurisdictions may or may not appear in the list, e.g. > Gibraltar, depending on whether the list is being used for geographic, > postal, administrative or some other reason > - the official name may be different from the commonly used name e.g. > Republic of Korea / Korea > - people have strong views about the country they live in, e.g. some > people who live in Scotland may have their own reasons for preferring > 'Scotland' to UK > - even if they agree with the geographical boundary, they may have > particular reasons for using one name rather than another e.g. a > preference for 'Burma' over 'Myanmar' or vice-versa > - the official names themselves aren't always entirely stable. For > example, there's a country that is still called " the former Yugoslav > Republic of Macedonia" by the Universal Postal Union (www.upu.int) and > many other international groupings of countries > - some of the lists include 'countries' that barely justify the name > e.g. my personal favourite, Wake Island. (My apologies to any Wake > Islanders if this seems disparaging). > > Coming from the UK, I find it's not uncommon to have to play the 'hunt > my country' game: is it at the top? down at the bottom near to Uganda > as United Kingdom? Under E for England? Ah ha, someone's put it under > G for Great Britain! (My view of the 'correct' anwer is that I'd look > for United Kingdom, for what it's worth). I'm waiting for the day that > I find it under R for Royaume Uni. > > Caroline Jarrett > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > 01525 370379 > > Effortmark Ltd > Usability - Forms - Content > > From: "Billy Cox" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > : In filling out various web forms, I have noticed two interaction > standards > : specifically related to dropdowns in which the user selects their > country of > : residence. > : > : 1 -- List is alphabetical (placing United States near the end of the > list) > : > : 2 -- Most likely selection(s) at the top of the list, with remainder > of list > : alphabetical. > : > : Which one would you use and what would influence your decision? > : > : > : Billy Cox > : Old World Spices > : [EMAIL PROTECTED] > : > : > : > : ________________________________________________________________ > : *Come to IxDA Interaction08 | Savannah* > : February 8-10, 2008 in Savannah, GA, USA > : Register today: http://interaction08.ixda.org/ > : > : ________________________________________________________________ > : Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! > : To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] > : Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe > : List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines > : List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help > : This message has been comprehensively scanned for viruses, > : please visit http://www.avg.power.net.uk/ for details. > : > : > > > ________________________________________________________________ > *Come to IxDA Interaction08 | Savannah* > February 8-10, 2008 in Savannah, GA, USA > Register today: http://interaction08.ixda.org/ > > ________________________________________________________________ > Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! > To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe > List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines > List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help > ________________________________________________________________ *Come to IxDA Interaction08 | Savannah* February 8-10, 2008 in Savannah, GA, USA Register today: http://interaction08.ixda.org/ ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
