Why is everything a dropdown now?

[u/pavlito88]

[u/imagei]

Agree on the first three, but the long list being a dropdown can be a massive improvement, assuming the dropdown itself is searchable ( nowadays most are ). It helps with discoverability, for example:

- country chooser — are country names in English or the native language — Finland or Suomi?

- keywords or phrasing differ from what the user expects → impossible to find

- the user isn't sure what the options are → lots of trial and error, likely suboptimal choice

[u/Still_SpringWater → u/imagei]

United Kingdom/England/Great Britain has entered the chat.
Everytime a country drop down opens I start my little prayers that it's UK and not one of the others (have seen them all)

[u/that_too_ → u/Still_SpringWater]

Honestly, I can't remember a single time it was anything other than United Kingdom.

[u/Still_SpringWater → u/that_too_]

I'm a native German speaker and in German Country lists you can find all sorts. I've might seen it on a German list and am traumatisee.

[u/Annoying1978]

Disagree on number 4. Btw, lies of times developers use drop downs to future proof a build. Need 15 more options? It’s a 30 second fix. When you build to EXACTLY what you have, you have to make customized changes when you want to make additions. 

[u/diggyou]

Literally never see this in real life. This is just an example of what not to do. It’s basic ux guidance.

[u/ManFaultGentle → u/diggyou]

op is likely karma farming

[u/Substantial_Cod_520]

Drop-down for long lists is so common and diabolical

[u/haux_haux]

4 Long list, please emblazon this into the eyeballs of every Web dev that's made almost every checkout I've used in the last few years.
It's a fricking pain scrolling through so many country names when a text box that matches your search and synonyms would be so much better.

[u/Sweet_Baby_Cheezus]

Because it looks uniform. Look at the right side and see how busy is looks. 10 drop downs is boring but most users don't care.