Fun facts:
There are zip codes that map to more than one city.
There are zip codes that map to more than one state. (42223)
Put the zip code first
51–60 of 330 posts
Re: Put the zip code first
#52Zipcodes are not great for reliably describing locations. They're collections of multiple postal delivery routes, and that's it. There's no guarantee that any given zipcode lies within a single city, or a single state, or that it lies within the boundaries of the US at all, or that it's contiguous, or that it's stationary (there are some for boats), or that any given location only has one, etc., etc. People think this is a good idea because their particular case happens to work well, but zip codes are rife with edge cases.
Re: Put the zip code first
#53I would say this doesn't actually work well for UX, because people are more likely to know their street address and city than their zip code. Personally, every time I've moved over the years, it took a few weeks for me to internalize my new zip code.
Re: Put the zip code first
#54Flawed premise.
This works within a country, but not between countries.
For example 77520 is the zip code of Cancun, Mexico and Baytown, Texas.
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Needs to be country + zip code (postal code).
Re: Put the zip code first
#55Ok but that only fetches the codes from the US, so now a non-US resident will start with their zip code and end up with random ass place on the other side of the globe. Now not only I still have to fill in the fields, but also clear them first.
Obviously put country first, then whatever the equivalent of a ZIP code is second. In the UK, a post code gets you down to around 15-16 delivery addresses on average. No-one there really _ever_ needs to type an address.
Most British websites work like this website suggests, in that they ask for the postcode first, then give you a dropdown of all the addresses at that postcode.
It works great, except my address is for some reason not in whatever databases these websites use. The building number is on the list, but not the individual flats. So I have to put in the postcode, choose something like "My address is not listed", then fill in the form manually. A few times it wasn't even offered as an option.
Re: Put the zip code first
#56It’s easy enough to say “put the zip first because that will tell you city, state and country in one input”. What happens to customers not in the United States? They have no zip to enter. Or if they have a postal code of some stripe, it has a different format. What about folks who are in Turkmenistan, that you’re grumpy about having to scroll past? How are they signing up?
I think they can just skip the zip code entry and enter everything else as usual.
A lot of the times both "zipcode" and "state" are mandatory fields.
Zipcode is easy, the platform likely wants my postal code.
You have to be a little bit more creative with state, sometimes "We don't have any states" is fun to see printed on your address label on a parcel, other times "Denmark" could be considered a state in the EU and that can be an answer, but most times "N/A" is enough.
Re: Put the zip code first
#57US-centric. I typed a Mexico postal code (it’s five digits) and got routed to somewhere in Maine. So - yeah the whole “I can tell you’re in the US just by the zip code” premise is entirely flawed.
The UI pattern is still stupid. You should be able to quickly enter forms like this on a keyboard.
When I look for a part for my car, I pick “Honda”, “Model Year”, “model”, “trim”.
With address forms, if I type “U” in a keyboard aware field, it defaults to “US Minor Outlying Islands”. Places that try to accommodate will put the US and Canada first.
If you asked country, first, you could utilize the postcode method. Some sites try to autocomplete street address which I personally find annoying as my street is a common streetname.
Re: Put the zip code first
#58When you create a site with a tone this self-righteous and condescending, you should really double check your thinking to make sure there is not some glaring flaw invalidating the premise for the majority of people in the world:
> A US ZIP code is 5 characters. From those 5 characters you can determine the city, the state, and the country. That's 3 fields. Autofilled. From one input.
I guess this is par for the course in Trump's America, but I still feel embarrassed for the creator.
Re: Put the zip code first
#59Fun facts: There are zip codes that map to more than one city. There are zip codes that map to more than one state . (42223)
Looks like that is just an area that straddles the border between Tennessee and Kenucky. Though it maps to more than one state, it is a single, connected region.
Line houses are even more interesting: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line_house
Re: Put the zip code first
#60US-centric. I typed a Mexico postal code (it’s five digits) and got routed to somewhere in Maine. So - yeah the whole “I can tell you’re in the US just by the zip code” premise is entirely flawed.
Yup, the second sentence in the post is incorrect. > From those 5 characters you can determine the city, the state, and the country. You can't infer the country from a postcode.
In the example, you might at least be able to cut down your menu choices to Maine or Mexico.