Country Conundrum

So, I am a BA, right?

Part of my job is designing websites and recently, I've encountered more and more customers who have international aspirations for their sites.

Thus, when filling out the online customer information form, a Country is required in the address.

Now, I think that having international aspirations for your new site is, well, a little grandiose, but I wish these customers good luck.

What I have trouble with is where they feel the Country information field belongs in the customer information forms.....

• Customer Name
• Address line 1
• Address line 2
• City
• State
• ZIP Code (Yes, it's actually an acronym, so it's "ZIP Code")
• Country

Uhm...does anyone else see a problem with gathering the information this way?

No?

Well, let me ask you:  what state should you pick when two fields later you change your country to "Ecuador".

What format should the ZIP Code be in if you reside in Germany?

NOW, do you see the problem?

Yes, this may be a bit weird, but this is one of the times where gathering information online is much different than writing it on, say, an envelope.

The proper order for gathering the information on these forms should be:

• Customer Name
• Address Line 1
• Address Line 2
• City 
• Country
• State/Province
• Postal Code  (because, duh, not every country has a "ZIP Code")

But while we're on the subject, there is one additional change that needs to be made for the best user experience:

• Customer Name
• Address Line 1
• Address Line 2
• Country
• Postal Code
• State/Province
• City 

Why in this order?

Because the Country will dictate not only the State/Province, but also the postal code.   And if you know the postal code, you actually already know the state/province AND city.  These two fields shouldn't even have to be filled in by the user.

Think about it.

But, alas, until the rest of the world realizes that we're working harder than we need to, we're all going to work harder than we need to.