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

* Col

* Col Dr

* 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 Hon Dr

* 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