Likes, dislikes, or what emotions does the drop-down menu evoke in users?

The questionnaire on the site is something akin to an invitation to a date: it seems that the user is interested in your resource and is ready to interact, but offer him a questionnaire, and he will immediately disappear. Or start and quit without finishing. There is only one result - you could not collect information, and in the worst case, you completely lost the client. Why did it happen? Let's figure it out.

Why don't they like the dropdown menu?

The dropdown menu is slow. This is the main reason for the "dislike" of many users and constant failures. The reason is that it is difficult for the user to navigate through the many moving lines. In addition, filling out a form with a drop-down menu is extremely inconvenient.

After all, the client will have to “jump” from the keyboard to the mouse to select the desired line, and then back to the keyboard to continue entering the necessary text characters.

The disadvantages of the text menu are as follows:

• it is difficult to read the options in the lines;
• it is difficult to get to the desired line, since the distance between the lines in the drop-down list is minimal;
• if the user makes a mistake, the search is interrupted, and you have to scroll through the proposed options again and “aim” more accurately, which is annoying and takes time;
• users of mobile gadgets have to maneuver especially deftly, where the visible area is generally small;
• the fact that the screen of mobile gadgets is small leads to another problem: some of the inscriptions in the drop-down list disappear, and the user cannot fully read what he is offered to choose.

The result is the same - a lot of time and nerves are wasted, and in the end one reasonable question arises - why is it still needed?

Possible alternatives

Fortunately, the drop-down menu is not the only possible way to fill out questionnaires. There are also options that do not cause such rejection among customers. For example, buttons: you reflect the possible options as a list, and next to them you make switches. Now it is harder for the user to miss, because the visual connection with the action is provided more fully. Just make sure that the button changes its activity when it is clicked - for example, let the background change from white to red. And do not forget that the buttons and should look the same - with a clear border for clicking.

If your list of options has a limited number of options, then you can provide autocomplete for the text field. The user will only start entering his option, as the system itself will offer him the desired solution. Just like in the search line of Yandex or Google.

There is only one reason why using a dropdown menu can be justified: when specific terminology is important in the user's response. It could be nationality or geographic location. In general, all those options where vagueness and inadequacy are inappropriate.

Don't let users refuse to fill out surveys! Keep track of rejections and departures, make changes in time, and then you will be able to receive the most complete information about your customers.