{"id":71,"date":"2010-09-07T09:24:51","date_gmt":"2010-09-07T07:24:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/office.intu.io\/newsite\/en\/dropdown\/"},"modified":"2025-12-21T09:20:46","modified_gmt":"2025-12-21T08:20:46","slug":"dropdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intu.io\/blog\/dropdown\/","title":{"rendered":"Dropdown"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"large\">Users need to pick a value out of a small set of predefined values.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/intu.io\/blogimg\/patterns\/pattern_dropDown.png\"><\/p>\n<h2>Context<\/h2>\n<p>This pattern can be applied to any context which requires selecting  one out of several items.<\/p>\n<h2>Forces<\/h2>\n<p>In general, we do not recommend using dropdowns for touch-based applications in safety-related environments due to the following reasons:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>picking an item using a dropdown requires two presses. Standard <a href=\"\/en\/blog\/patterns\/circular-list\">list controls<\/a> require only one press if no scrolling is required<\/li>\n<li>the droplist must be opened first in order to see all available choices<\/li>\n<li>the droplist cannot be searched using keyboard shortcuts<\/li>\n<li>the droplist does not support hover as on mouse\/keyboard interfaces<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Therefore, this control should be used with caution and only if:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>the list contains fewer than 10 items, <\/li>\n<li>all list items are visible and the list does not require scrolling, <\/li>\n<li>there is not enough space to use another control. <\/li>\n<li>there is another good reason why standard <a href=\"\/en\/blog\/patterns\/circular-list\">list controls<\/a> cannot be used<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Solution<\/h2>\n<p>The proposed dropdown corresponds to the standard dropdown controls used in current operating systems. However, we discourage use of combo boxes allowing text entry for touch-based interfaces.<\/p>\n<p><h2>Safety Impact<\/h2>\n<p>Using dropdowns to save space may free up screen real estate for other safety-relevant functions and, thus, contribute to safe operation.<\/p>\n<h2>Usability Impact<\/h2>\n<p>Efficiency in terms of reducing screen clutter.<\/p>\n<h2>Your opinion<\/h2>\n<p>Feel free to provide your comments, reports of usage of this pattern, or feedback in general!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"thumbnail\" align=\"left\" src=\"\/sites\/patterns.intu.io\/files\/pattern_dropDown_preview.png\"><\/p>\n<p>This pattern provides a dropdown control.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[16,24,104],"class_list":["post-71","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-patterns","tag-behavioural","tag-capacitive","tag-resistive"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - 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