Naming NAME fields (was RE: Coordinating Field Defs and Procedura l Info

[mlist -at- safenet-inc -dot- com]

Chinell, David F (GE Indust, Security) added:

> Lisa:
> 
> We never confuse the field name with the item in question. 
> Thus, we'd write:
> 
> Enter your last name in the Last Name box.
> 
> not
> 
> Enter your Last Name.

The above exchange raised a hackle or two, not directly 
related to the thread (so I changed the thread name).

Given the number of Chinese and other ethnicities that 
might be using your product, wouldn't it be better to 
differentiate names by "Family Name" and "Given Name(s)" 
instead of the rather provincial "First Name" "Last Name"?

I mean, since a number of cultures - including almost 
anybody's army - put Family Name first, you'd be 
removing a source of confusion. Either the person filling 
out the form might be unsure, or the person(s) using the 
data, later on, might make wrong assumptions.

For example, my old buddy from a previous company, 
Chu Yin Man... What's a clerk going to do with that 
later on?   Or, Dean Ryan (or was that Ryan Dean)?

And fergawdsake, don't use "Christian Name", for a 
field name, unless you're _really_ sure of the end-user audience.
I've seen that in too many places. (Last time I encountered it, 
I entered "Ibrahim" just to mess with their minds.)

Kevin

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