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Previous: Hotel thermometer | Main | Next: Coffee labels
July 11, 2005 12:01 AM
Broken: Address fields in online forms
John Dingman writes:
This picture is just an example of the typical online form that asks for your address. These forms are ALL broken, in that once I put in a zip code, I should NOT have to then select my state (or my city for that matter).
Zip codes are easily linked to their location and a simple lookup table could complete the city and state fields. I have not yet encountered a form that uses this simple shortcut.
Many zip codes have multiple possible city names associated with them. The zip code database has over 70,000 entries, but less than 50,000 unique zip codes. Any application that uses auto-lookup of city from zip code should allow for user selection of the correct city (or township) name from all possible matches in these cases.
I work at a toy store, and when I do shipping I put in the zip code, and the UPS program automatically puts in the city and state. What should happen is that the fields for city and state fill automatically, and then you can check to make sure it is right.
The reason why this is not done more often is simple: cost. The databases are not free, and if anyone out there knows a zipcode to city/state database please point me in the direction. Most often these databases need to be licensed to the individual application or website, that most of my customers are unwilling to pay for.
One more reason why it's usually not implemented - Fraud control. Requiring somebody to enter a zip code & the city/state would require that person to know both. On the back end, they could be verified using the same method that you've noticed as missing and those zips that don't match the entered city would be denied. Try it sometime with yahoo mail or perhaps hotmail - start a new account, and then put in a wildly different zip code for your own city/state. You'll probably get an error along the lines of "invalid zip code".
Is that a country field that you've hidden? In that case it makes a lot of sense. Remember that the United States is a very small part of the world, and mail does move about everywhere.
There are quite a few websites that ask for only a post-code (UK equivalent to zip code) and house number. The website then fills in the rest and asks you to check it's correct before proceeding.
UPS Worldship software only requires the zip code. It automatically fills in the town and state. When multiple towns are possible, it will sometimes fill in its town of choice. When it does this the chances of delivery problems are very high. (Of course, it's always our fault. The next error that they admit to will be the first:))
Here is another problem with address feilds in online forms or even most paperwork which gives you a specific number of spaces to write information like |_|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|. My parents live in a small town called Saint André d'Argenteuil, try typing that into most address feilds and you quickly run out of letters. Even using St. instead of Saint the last word often ends up something like Argenteu. What is really broken in this situation is that the town used to be called Saint André Est which did fit but a couple of years ago the government re-zoned and renamed the town, the street name, house number and postal code. Canada Post still hasn't quite caught up with all the changes and they still recive mail late on occasion because it was sent to the wrong post office.
My zip code is for two municipalities (Toledo, OH and Ottawa Hills, OH), so how would the form know where I'm from? In addition, at my apartment from two moves ago, not only did my zip code cross city lines, but also county lines (my property line was the county line).
If we had forms that assumed where you live, yet in some instances screwed up the city names, we would be having a post on how those are broken instead! The only solution/compromise would be to use the ZIP+4 standard, but what percentage of the population knows their “+4”? I’d guess 5-10% at most, which would solve nothing.
This has always bugged me too.
Another reason to use it, it allows you to double check your entry. If you type a zip, and the computer spits out the wrong city/state, then you know you typed it in wrong.
P.S. Fraud verification looks at zip and street address only, at least the software we use for our site only does.
Like many others here, my store ships UPS, and their worldship program automatically inserts the city and state after you enter the zip code. You check it and correct it if it is wrong. This seems easier, because it is no harder for the exceptional person (whose city does not come up correctly) and much easier for those who have a normal situation. In fact, there is already this sort of checkup going on. For instance, Comcast will ask us which county we live in. Why? Our zip includes a tiny slice of the county next to us. If this sort of checking is already going on, a system like UPS' is cake. Remember, before you order, they always give a screen to check your information. Only people who quickly scroll down and hit order (remember, this is after their first chance to notice) would be penalized. Sorry, but they deserve it.
Like many others here, my store ships UPS, and their worldship program automatically inserts the city and state after you enter the zip code. You check it and correct it if it is wrong. This seems easier, because it is no harder for the exceptional person (whose city does not come up correctly) and much easier for those who have a normal situation. In fact, there is already this sort of checkup going on. For instance, Comcast will ask us which county we live in. Why? Our zip includes a tiny slice of the county next to us. If this sort of checking is already going on, a system like UPS' is cake. Remember, before you order, they always give a screen to check your information. Only people who quickly scroll down and hit order (remember, this is after their first chance to notice) would be penalized. Sorry, but they deserve it.
Oh my god... I'm really tiring of these people (Seth too) "Its broken because it doesn't work the way *I* want it to!"
Anything that requires more than 4 lines to explain why its broken just isn't.
Cry me a river. Buck up and deal.
What puzzles me is not the ZIP code thing, which I agree could be made automagic without too much trouble (though it probably would require a roundtrip to the server, which may be why it's not done), but this nonsense of confirming the email address.
Confirming a password is a normal thing to do since the password, in any properly working system, is generally not printed.
But why the email address? Yes, I suppose it's possible for a user to incorrectly enter an email address but it's also possible to enter a street address incorrectly and there's rarely, if ever, a double check on that.
Even with snarf and barf it's a pain in the tuckus, albeit one of life's smaller ones, I admit.
America != World.
Though the dropdown for the state is just as broken, for the same reason. I'd had mail sent to me at "Beyond Limits, Johor, Malaysia" because of this. o_O
Funny enough forms on Apple.com use a City/State/Zip/County check to insure that you've entered the correct information. Or at least a location that really does exist.
Comments on this entry are closed
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Actually, this is a precaution. It is not broken because people swap digits in their zip code all the time. Let's make up an imaginary zip code: 14325 (if this code exists, please forgive me.)
Fairly often, even the smartest residents of the wonderful zip code of 14325 may accidentally mis-type the code. Ooh boy could you imagine the face of a 14325 resident finding out his brand-new laptop computer was shipped to a Salvation Army donation address in, say, 13425?
Ouch. See how swapping digits can cause a problem? Now in some cases, if the form was smart, it would check to make sure that address exists in that zip code. Of course many streets of the same names are found all across the county, so I wouldn't bet on anyone catching your error very easily. If the billing address is different from the shipping address, anyone on the other end of the transfer would likely assume you were sending a gift.
I admit it's an inconvenience, but online stores do that to protect you (and them) from even bigger inconveniences.
Of course if humans were absolutely perfect, they could get away with only asking for the 9-digit format of the zip code (xxxxx-yyyy), as the four digit extension narrows everything down to one building. If needed, the user would also input an apartment number.
Unfortunately, since to err is human, we need checks and double-checks.
One thing that is broken is that they don't do much to make sure that you type in your street address correctly. But at least if you swap a digit in your street address, it'll most likely go to a neighbor or someone you can easily contact to get your stuff, rather than a total stranger on the opposite side of the country.
Posted by: Matthew at July 11, 2005 01:04 AM