How Many Choices Are Too Many?
When you’re designing a learning experience, one of the things you need to think about is the number of choices you give the learner. There needs to be a balance between usability and customization, and sometimes that goes a little off-kilter.
Most reliable sources talk about a very limited number of choices in a drop-down menu box — somewhere around seven or less. In assessments, we usually talk about no more than four choices. But I’ve got an example of a dropdown box with 204 choices!
The British Airlines site requires you to select an honorific (title) from their dropdown box. At last count, there were over 200 choices:
* Mr
* Mrs
* Ms
* Miss
* Dr
* Herr
* Monsieur
* Hr
* Frau
* -
* A V M
* Admiraal
* Admiral
* Air Cdre
* Air Commodore
* Air Marshal
* Air Vice Marshal
* Alderman
* Alhaji
* Ambassador
* Baron
* Barones
* Brig
* Brig Gen
* Brig General
* Brigadier
* Brigadier General
* Brother
* Canon
* Capt
* Captain
* Cardinal
* Cdr
* Chief
* Cik
* Cmdr
*
*
* Colonel
* Commandant
* Commander
* Commissioner
* Commodore
* Comte
* Comtessa
* Congressman
* Conseiller
* Consul
* Conte
* Contessa
* Corporal
* Councillor
* Count
* Countess
* Crown Prince
* Crown Princess
* Dame
* Datin
* Dato
* Datuk
* Datuk Seri
* Deacon
* Deaconess
* Dean
* Dhr
* Dipl Ing
* Doctor
* Dott
* Dott sa
* Dr
* Dr Ing
* Dra
* Drs
* Embajador
* Embajadora
* En
* Encik
* Eng
* Eur Ing
* Exma Sra
* Exmo Sr
* F O
* Father
* First Lieutient
* First Officer
* Flt Lieut
* Flying Officer
* Fr
* Frau
* Fraulein
* Fru
* Gen
* Generaal
* General
* Governor
* Graaf
* Gravin
* Group Captain
* Grp Capt
* H E Dr
* H H
* H M
* H R H
* Hajah
* Haji
* Hajim
* Her Highness
* Her Majesty
* Herr
* High Chief
* His Highness
* His Holiness
* His Majesty
* Hon
* Hr
* Hra
* Ing
* Ir
* Jonkheer
* Judge
* Justice
* Khun Ying
* Kolonel
* Lady
* Lcda
* Lic
* Lieut
* Lieut Cdr
* Lieut Col
* Lieut Gen
* Lord
* M
* M L
* M R
* Madame
* Mademoiselle
* Maj Gen
* Major
* Master
* Mevrouw
* Miss
* Mlle
* Mme
* Monsieur
* Monsignor
* Mr
* Mrs
* Ms
* Mstr
* Nti
* Pastor
* President
* Prince
* Princess
* Princesse
* Prinses
* Prof
* Prof Dr
* Prof Sir
* Professor
* Puan
* Puan Sri
* Rabbi
* Rear Admiral
* Rev
* Rev Canon
* Rev Dr
* Rev Mother
* Reverend
* Rva
* Senator
* Sergeant
* Sheikh
* Sheikha
* Sig
* Sig na
* Sig ra
* Sir
* Sister
* Sqn Ldr
* Sr
* Sr D
* Sra
* Srta
* Sultan
* Tan Sri
* Tan Sri Dato
* Tengku
* Teuku
* Than Puying
* The
* The Hon Justice
* The Hon Miss
* The Hon Mr
* The Hon Mrs
* The Hon Ms
* The Hon Sir
* The Very Rev
* Toh Puan
* Tun
* Vice Admiral
* Viscount
* Viscountess
* Wg Cdr
Bad PowerPoint! Bad!
Here’s another entry in our 435-part series, entitled “Bad PowerPoint”. (There are some people who would say that’s redundant.) While I don’t think the tool is necessarily bad, the overwhelming examples of how people use it are just that. And I hope that calling attention to some of the worst offenders we can at least get them federal money or some type of rehab program.
The CEO’s site is in Dutch (in more than one meaning) and I can’t really tell much about what’s going on. But there really is only one question here: What was he thinking?
Thanks to Seth Godin for the pointer.
You Can Lead A Horse To Water, But He’s Gotta Want To Swim
The titles are the hardest parts on these little missives, you know. I’m supposed to write something that gets you all excited and uncontrollably interested in clicking and reading more. Today I’m thinking about the process of moving some of the more “traditional” members of the training community into the realm of new media — blogs, wikis, podcasts, Second Life, Facebook, Twitter, Blotto, Snackit, Zeldasize and Morlo.
(You recognized all those, right? You’re hip? With it?) Well lately I’ve been talking to an audience that thinks every one of those things is made up, scary, and pretty much outside their comfort zone. I started teaching people a lot of years ago, and was really comfortable with it — standing up in front of the room talking, just like my 3rd grade teacher. She was really smart, I remembered — and then one day I saw her “Teacher’s Edition” of the textbook, with all the answers at the end of each chapter.
That’s when I became one of those difficult students. Talking to others, questioning authorities, coloring outside the lines. If you ask most of the people who know me now, they’ll tell you it hasn’t changed much. I’m always asking “why?” and trying it a different way, just to see what happens.
So — back to training. I’m working with a local training group to develop an event for them. It’s focused on “the future of training” — something I’m very interested in. I’ve spent lots of other people’s money on cutting edge techniques, experimented with thousands of victims, and had access to some of the sharpest minds on the planet in this discipline. (No, I’m not one of them. Metaphorically, I’m the blunt-nosed scissors of this discipline.)
My personality is very similar to a deaf and blind bulldog. Forging ahead, not listening, just slobbering over everything. And I’ve found that in my attempts to get this audience on board with some of the “scary” parts of this new world, I’m mostly just annoying them and coming off poorly. I assumed that once I had told them this stuff was neat, my job was finished. Everyone would jump on my band wagon (what is a band wagon, anyway?) and we’d all roll into the future together.
What I’m seeing is that there are very serious concerns that people have about leaving what they used to do, and jumping into something new and risky. What if I look silly? What if people take advantage of me? What if it doesn’t work perfectly the first time?
I’m not sure that I’ve really got an answer for any of those, to be honest. I’ve spent my life looking silly, so it’s not that big a deal. Lots of stuff I do is a huge disaster the first time. And I get taken advantage of a lot — like agreeing to work for a huge number of unpaid hours on an event that most of the members don’t want to attend.
But I am taking something away from this, other than money. I’m realizing that when I work with clients who actually PAY me, I need to remember that it’s not enough to be right. It’s not enough to push really hard, and to believe in what you’re doing.
I’ve gotta find a way to make sure they want to get on the wagon.
