Mobile - Autocomplete and Prediction

Problem

Whenever possible, use assistive technology to reduce text entry effort and to reduce errors.

Solution

Autocomplete and predictive entry have proven especially valuable due to the relative difficulty and reduced speed of text entry, and especially for complex, technical data entry such as URLs.

A range of related functions associated with all types of text entry can be considered under the Autocomplete and Prediction Pattern:

• Completion - Entry is automatically completed or modified with the goal to create valid entry with as few keystrokes as possible. This is common for search in URL history, when a list of recent or common results is presented during typing.
• Suggestion - one or several suggestions are displayed for an entry. An action is available to change to the suggestion, often by picking from a list. This is encountered in triple-tap text entry.
• Replacement - a word or phrase which is recognized as likely to be a misspelling of an entry in a dictionary will be replaced with the correct version shortly after user entry has been completed.
• Error Notation - a word or phrase not recognized as an item in the dictionary or does not meet the input criteria is indicated as such inline. The most common approach is underlining misspelled words in free form text entry.

Examples