Website mistakes that are easily fixed

Post by msrpotus » Fri, Jun 14, 2013, 8:56 PM UTC

apendleton wrote: post #26

Domenic_S wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, this list shows 293 ZIPs that cross state lines [0], this FAQ says there are ~43,000 ZIPs in use [1] so that puts it closer to 99.3%. But think about it, if you're taking an address to ship something, getting the ZIP right is what matters. If your package has 45201 on it, it doesn't matter if it says Cincinnati, OH or Cincinnati, KY. [0] http://web.archive.org/web/20110112211559/http://maps.huge.i... [1] http:/…

But if you're collecting a billing address (probably more common, since many places bill but don't ship, e.g., for digital goods, but not that many ship without billing), and are trying to expedite filling out the form by guessing the city and state from the zip, I doubt the payment processing would succeed if you got the city or state wrong. All depends on the situation, I guess.

Post by gallerytungsten » Fri, Jun 14, 2013, 9:08 PM UTC

Post by alxndr » Fri, Jun 14, 2013, 9:25 PM UTC

durkie wrote: post #17

godamn credit card forms! those get me the most because we're at the moment where i'm trying to give you money, and they pull some passive-aggressive bullshit like limiting the field length to 16 characters. i can almost type in my whole card number, but then i can go no further and i have to manually go back and remove all the spaces and then go to the end of the number and enter the last digit. class act.

Post by cdmckay » Fri, Jun 14, 2013, 9:26 PM UTC

Domenic_S wrote: post #20

Here's one he missed: your "country" dropdown has a list of every country in existence, alphabetically. So for the US you have to scroll down to near the end of the list past hundreds of other countries. Instead, put your audience up top (Canada, US, GB maybe) and then alphabetically list the rest.

Post by dedward » Fri, Jun 14, 2013, 9:29 PM UTC

apendleton wrote: post #8

yogo wrote: post #4

Asking for city, state and zip code is my favorite on the list. Plus the country should be asked for first then if US only get the street and zip code. There was a link on HN sometime ago that showed that people trusted the form/page more when complete address information was requested (I believe the conclusion was that people were used to doing it that way) so maybe there is a downside to the shorter version.

Funny. This is the one to which I had the most negative response. Zipcodes are terrible for inferring anything geographically interesting. A single zipcode is just a collection of USPS postal routes; nothing more, nothing less. They don't have to be contained within a single city, or even a single state, nor do they have to be contiguous, and they can overlap with one another. New ones are also added all the time, an…