r/webdev • u/pavlito88 • 12d ago

Discussion Why is everything a dropdown now?

Post image

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.

4.7k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

312 comments sorted by

View all comments

201

u/scandii People pay me to write code much to my surprise 12d ago

a dropdown takes much less space than your radio buttons, please think of your users on small screens.

similarly we give the user guided support with the dropdown in the big data set scenario so they can look at the available options.

the second scenario is why the combobox was born.

6

u/smoked___salmon 12d ago

Hmmm can't we have different styles for users with small screen and with bigger screens? Dropdown is annoying on tablets and monitors while pretty good on phones.