Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Jan 2024

Don’t Abbreviate: An Experimental Comparison of the U.S. State Display Designs Commonly Used in Surveys and Forms

Elizabeth Nichols United States Census Bureau ; Erica Olmsted-Hawala ; Shelley Feuer United States Census Bureau ; Lin Wang United States Census Bureau

Abstract

Forms and surveys often require address information, including state. State data entry fields in online forms typically use a dropdown where the user selects one state from the list. A review of online forms shows a variety of state lists used, with some including the state name fully spelled out while others use the state abbreviation, and still others use a combination of the two, like MD-Maryland. Through a series of three independent experiments, we investigate usability of state list designs as measured by time-on-task, accuracy of answers, or user preference. Results indicate that participants have difficulty with state abbreviations alone. That design results in longer time-on-task, and lower accuracy and preference, particularly for states where the user does not live. We did not find any significant difference in usability for full state names compared to the abbreviation and state name combination in a dropdown design.

Journal
Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
Published
2024-01-01
DOI
10.1177/00472816221118246
CompPile
Open Access
Closed
Topics
technical communication book reviews
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