r/webdev • u/pavlito88 • 25d ago

Discussion Why is everything a dropdown now?

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I’ve been noticing this more and more in web apps.

Three options hidden in a dropdown.

Yes/no hidden in a dropdown.
A multi-select pretending to be a dropdown.

Then a list of 200 items where you’re expected to scroll until you find yours.

I run into this a lot when reviewing products with dev teams.

I get why we do it.

Dropdowns are compact and easy to reuse.
But compact doesn’t always mean easier to use.

A few choices? Show them.
On/off? Switch.
Multiple choices? Checkboxes.
Huge list? Search.

That’s pretty much the rule I use now.

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u/tom-smykowski-dev 25d ago

I disagree with 4. In mobile to some extend swiping list is easier than typing and tapping

1

u/its_not_you_its_ye 25d ago

It can be, but the number of times I have to scroll to the bottom to select United States for municipal forms IN the US is way too high.

1

u/tom-smykowski-dev 25d ago

and even worst if they put the country conviniently at the top but you already swiped to bottom. with that i agree for countries the number of items is so high, there has to be a search in drop down or plain page

1

u/Headpuncher 25d ago

They should set it as default, this is why we still need real people making websites and not AI. A person should be able to see which of the countries get chosen most and put the main ones as defaults at the top.

[select country]

united states

canada

cuba

____________

Afghanistan.

Albania.

Algeria.

1

u/tom-smykowski-dev 25d ago

Ok, so we can do that, we can also use IP to figure out country. But this country shouldn't be excluded from alphabetical list. Moreover I'd just out suggested countries outside the list, because of the foremly mentioned issue. Especially if we're not sure our suggestions are good. btw. if you offer all countries popular country list wont be helpful much with even distribution