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Radio buttons and check boxes for true / false / null options

I am developing a general polling mechanism, and I ran into some problems related to the design of the interface.

I decided that all browse options that support multiple options would invariably use the combobox control. I believe this is good practice, and Microsoft development guidelines also contribute to this practice.

However, I do not want to use comboboxes to select Yes / No. They must also be in an undefined state if the user does not select anything. My first choice was to use two switches that would read “Yes” and “No,” but the problem with the switches is that they cannot be canceled after the selection (unless I break the design rules and make radio buttons, uncheck the other click). Alternatively, I could introduce a third option, which would read “Unknown,” or better yet, a small button that will remove any selection.

The problem with using checkboxes is how they handle the undefined state. Most of the end users who will use this software will not be very smart on computers, and I do not expect them to understand that the small square in the cells representing an uncertain state does not really mean that the choice is positive. The mark and square are probably the same for many users.

Summarizing:

For element types YES / NO / NOT SELECTED, I should use:

  • A radio with three choices: Yes, No, Unknown.
  • Radio buttons that can be undone by clicking.
  • Radio buttons that can be undone by clicking the small X button
  • Checkboxes and hope users understand what an uncertain state

thanks

UPDATE:

Ok, thanks to everyone who participated.

I chose option # 3 (radio buttons that can be undone by clicking the small X button), except that I use the link buttons instead of the buttons. I also provide a tooltip on the link button if the user is not aware of its meaning.

It looks like this:

enter image description here

I am very pleased with this. Thanks again.

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3 answers

You have exactly three states or choices and ask the user to choose. The choice you want to give the user is yes, no, or I have no opinion (although you can say that the way you want it is obvious). This is exactly what radio buttons are for. Radio buttons are designed specifically to select one of several possible options. In addition, the "I have no opinion" button is selected by default. A radio button should always be selected, there should be no uncertain state.

Flags are, of course, the wrong choice in this particular case.

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I'm not a UX expert, but I like the first option, which is called thematic radio buttons here

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I believe option 3 is more logical.
You should have a yes-no switch and there is (above it or below) a flag with the inscription "N \ a" or "Doesn't matter."

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Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/897086/

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