Even better when ###-1317 is fed to you as "thirteen seventeen." Teens are the only number where the first digit isn't said first, now I have to back up and re-understand that phone number.
My phone number ends with basically the example given and i’ve never thought about it making it more difficult sometimes. I’m definitely going to change the way i say it after seeing it from this perspective!
Mildly dyslexic programmer here. I can't leave you in this state. What you want to do here is called chunking. For 8 numbers only process 3 at a time. By chunking a sequence (e.g. splitting an 8-digit code into groups of 3-3-2), the cognitive load is reduced, making it easier to process
I have an eight digit gym number, I treat it a 2 x 4 digits sequence, and putting it in is quicker than waiting for the app to allow you use the QR code generated on my phone.
The pattern it makes on the keypad helps as well.
My dyslexia seems to mainly effect nouns, especially if there's two.
Well, if it's supposed to be read once, e.g. you get the code on the phone and you have to type it somewhere to log in, then it absolutely needs to be readable.
Idk why but I find it easier to remember number combinations than I do letter combinations
Combine them both together, however, and I'm absolutely fucked.
I'm good to about six. I use a mental trick I learned on Brain Games ages ago. Take 123456. You'd have to memorize six numbers, 1-2-3-4-5-6. But if you can train yourself to see 12, 34, and 56, it's only memorizing three numbers. Not helpful for *everyone* surely, but it's a neat little mind hack.
Unfortunately if you put a hyphen in it, the "copy code" convenience button in the notification widget on Android doesn't copy the whole code. (I don't know if iOS is better.) And if you use fewer digits it starts being possible to brute force.
One thing that drives me nuts is forms that AUTO SUBMIT when you enter the last digit. For god's sake don't override standard UX, and LET ME CORRECT MY INEVITABLE ERRORS!
True, standardized changes making font and format more legible would be appreciated. In the meantime... Holepunch. Slip of scrap paper. Read what's in the hole. Move hole from left to right. It's not an ideal solution but it's a passable stop-gap measure. I use it to read BS UPS codes all the time.
honetly 4 number should be fine, because thats a shit ton of requests, and not all of your userbase is using the account recovery all the time. plus if you have other means like username reqs than its not any more secure
Our new print system at the library I work at has 8-digit codes for retrieving your mobile print job and it fucks me up all the time, and I’m not even dyslexic. Can’t imagine if I were… 😓
German EC cards have 10 digit numbers without hyphens or spaces, and sometimes you get a whole account number of 22 characters in a single damn block (like when I last received a dentist bill by paper mail).
I don't want to have to double and quadruple check if my money goes to the right place...
Europe has the IBAN system for wire transfers, which are 2 letters followed by 20 numbers, which are mostly written as one string with no spaces or hyphens. I always fear that I wire money to the wrong account.
as someone who is remarkably good at remembering arbitrary strings of numbers, I wholeheartedly agree with this.
Making codes that are easily parseable is one of those things, like cryptography, you should never do yourself. Use an existing, vetted technique. Do not experiment on your customers.
If it’s just numbers does that make it dyscalculia, or does the fact that you’re just trying to “read” them but not do anything number-y with them keep it dyslexia?
As someone with dyscalculia but not dyslexia, I also struggle with this. However, 2 separate psychologists have said I should be tested for visual processing disorder, so who knows I guess 😅
I've not been diagnosed, but letters sometimes give me trouble. I was reading a movie review once and misread "jaw-clenching" as "jew-clenching"... of course I did a double take "what the fuck did I just read?"
This is interesting. I diagnose dyslexia for a living and have not encountered this. I do, however, in diagnosing ADHD. The rule of thumb for short-term memory for digits is 7 +/-2. Hyphens allow for chunking the information, which makes it easier to remember. Hyphens would be appreciated by many.
Exactly. I can't remember more than about 5 sequential digits (and will remember them wrong if there are double digits about half the time, i.e. remembering 34456 instead of 34556).
Got to be on the receiving end of about 6 hours of psych testing, worried I was heading down the dementia path that my mom is on. Psychologist wonders how the heck I made it 59 years without an ADHD diagnosis.
Jim, that sounds scary. I'm glad you got testing done and a proper diagnosis. I developed an ADHD testing specialty before learning that I am the only one in my family who doesn't have it! My daughter was diagnosed at age 10 and my husband at age 47.
It's been a relief to get the diagnosis because it (a) relieved a lot of worry for both me and my husband and (b) made finding coping strategies that have really helped.
I'm glad to hear it! My husband had a great treatment response from Concerta, which lowered his anxiety and depression considerably. I noticed the improved executive functioning.
After I retired and lost all the structures of my work life, I started to really have memory issues (missed appointments, chronic lateness even though I had way more free time, forgetfulness, leaving the stove on or the fridge door open, etc.).
I tend to avoid this problem by copy-pasting the security codes instead of having to read them, though that does highlight how useless they are as security. As if no one else could possibly go from one app on my phone back to Firefox on the same phone to paste this code. Definitely must be me.
my old job required me to type in 21 digit order numbers that had a lot of 3 digit fields as identifiers
like how order was placed.
store it was being picked up from.
etc etc. so basically 50% of the order number was static. but I still had to hand key it the whole thing in.
*rereads the code carefully 2 or 3 times*
*starts typing it in, forgets half way*
*switch apps and reread it like 2 times again*
*give up and switch back and forth like every 2 or 3 numbers*
Comments
I am about to misdial to an elderly grandma somewhere in the continent and spend 15 minutes apologizing 😭
The pattern it makes on the keypad helps as well.
My dyslexia seems to mainly effect nouns, especially if there's two.
6273456819 and 627-345-681-9 hit different
Or maybe I'm thinking about wrong type of codes
and with some spacing, 142 - 357 - 23
Combine them both together, however, and I'm absolutely fucked.
this will now be a Whole Thing 😭
I was on the other side of the aisle, always questioned why these existed, never occurred to me some people had a tough time making them out
Come to think of it, it does it for my emails OTP too.
PS: their app sucks shit too
Late-night phone calls London-New York. Absolutely could not read those number strings.
I shudder to think how many Italian lira were embezzled on my watch. “Oh yes…sounds good.”
I don't want to have to double and quadruple check if my money goes to the right place...
I gotta bring a magnifying glass to go shopping, like I'm Sherlock Holmes and it's the Mystery of: What's in this Package?
Making codes that are easily parseable is one of those things, like cryptography, you should never do yourself. Use an existing, vetted technique. Do not experiment on your customers.
80088008
like how order was placed.
store it was being picked up from.
etc etc. so basically 50% of the order number was static. but I still had to hand key it the whole thing in.
*rereads the code carefully 2 or 3 times*
*starts typing it in, forgets half way*
*switch apps and reread it like 2 times again*
*give up and switch back and forth like every 2 or 3 numbers*