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Subject:RE: Naming NAME fields From:mlist -at- safenet-inc -dot- com To:DGoldstein -at- riverainmedical -dot- com, techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com Date:Wed, 8 Nov 2006 13:17:20 -0500
Dan Goldstein [mailto:DGoldstein -at- riverainmedical -dot- com]
>
> Only if you check whether _your_ users more easily identify
> "Given Name
> and Family Name" than "First Name and Last Name." Otherwise, it's just
> Design By Assumption.
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: mlist
> >
> > ... wouldn't it be better to differentiate names by "Family
> Name" and
> > "Given Name(s)" instead of the rather provincial "First Name" "Last
> > Name"?
Yes.... and the assumption is that "First Name" and "Last Name"
are _absolutely_ wrong for a couple of billion people on this
planet, significant numbers of whom have emigrated to your
country and to other countries where you might be selling
your product. My friend Chu Yin Man is bright enough to
figure out either one (being second-generation and all),
but his barely-english-speaking relatives would read
_your_ form literally, and type "Chu" (their family name)
in your "First Name" field, and "Man" in your "Last Name" field,
and your customers would have all their minimum-wage, script-reading,
support people trying to contact "Mr. Man" or "Mrs. Man".
How well do you react when somebody phones saying:
"I'd like to speak to Mr. Dan, please"?
Meanwhile, very few cultures do not use family names. If
you know somebody wants the name of your family in one field,
you can probably figure out that one of your other names
(picked by Mom and Dad to differentiate you from your brother
Daryl and your other brother Daryl...) should go into
the "Given Name" field, or at least you'll consider asking
somebody. Contrast with "First" and "Last" which you might
not question. Obviously, "Chu" (family name) is "First",
and "Yin Man" (given name) is "Last"... but only later will
some clerk (at the business that's using your software) choke
on that input.
I admit that you could be perfectly correct in your contention,
but I'd like to examine your reasoning, please.
Kevin
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