What's in a name (validation)?

WHAT'S IN A NAME (VALIDATION)?

Hello! I'M CARLY HO engineer @ clique studios http://carlymho.com/ @carlymho

VALIDATING NAMES

names: important info, difficult to validate

WHAT IS A NAME?

what do we assume about names?

what are names but no, really

the form of a name is different almost everywhere

in the USA, we still often assume western euro norms

names: a way to refer to someone. pretty much it

sorry, there's no good way to validate them D:

SO WHAT CAN YOU DO?

what do you need the name for?

do you need to ID them by name?

do you need to separate first name/last name?

do you only need one part of a name?

let the user help you by telling them what you'll use the name for

don't assume which part is the surname/family name

make sure your ui accommodates both long + short names

COMPASSIONATE VALIDATION

your system might not be able to process all possible names

don't position it as a problem with the user's name

admit the system limitation in validations + work to improve

Thanks! QUESTIONS? You can find me at http://carlymho.com/ @carlymho

RESOURCES & FURTHER READING " Regular Expression for Validating Names and Surnames ," stackoverflow " Your Last Name Contains Invalid Characters ," John Graham

Cumming " Representing People's Names in Dublin Core ," Andrew Waugh " Wookey

is that it? " Wookey " Falsehoods Programmers Believe About Names ," Patrick McKenzie