building a better form

deciding who counts more

posted: Apr 29 2005

Online forms… I loathe them almost as much as I love them. I’m constantly experimenting and looking for ways to build a better form. They can be painful with all the error checking and logic routines to get the right set of fields to play nice. However, when a form comes together and a visitor is able to complete their task without a hitch, and it just works, it’s beautiful.

One thing I’ve noticed over the years is how different websites do their forms—contact forms, specifically, and well, comment forms on blogs also fit this situation: forms that are more like sad little surveys with a comparatively small place to write your comments.

It’s as if there is this mentality that we have one chance to get every ounce of user data we can, so let’s cram things into our forms that don’t add any value to the visitor’s task—especially if they are trying to make contact. Just let them make contact. Put the miscellaneous data in another place, or maybe make the contact form a two step process with the second step optional if they feel like taking a survey.

Think about when you are frantically searching for a website’s “contact us” page (or you go to post a comment) because you have something you need to tell or ask. It’s already frustrating enough when you get to a contact page and there’s an email link hidden in a “contact joe” link which launches your email program. Now imagine you get to a site that actually has a contact form, and your burning words are required to be put on hold while you are bombarded with multiple other aspects of the form, like: your name, your email address, your mailing address, your favorite popsicle flavor and “how you heard about the site.” Then there it is at the end of the form… the little box that let’s you write to your heart’s content. But good luck spell checking and proofing it in a box that only shows you maybe ten words at a time.

Anything you can do to make the experience for your visitors more visitor-centric versus business- or even program-centric, the better—like grouping similar datas together. Put the email field close to the name field, not after the mailing address; an email address has nothing to do with a postal address. These may be subtle changes, but it’s the subtleties that draw the lines between an inviting, enjoyable, effortless experience and a cold, awkward, “join our email list NOW” experience.

Any form on your site is the most tangible way for your visitors to connect with you whether they are searching for something, buying something, or deeming your cause worthy enough to share any amount of personal information with you. Take care of them.

-- jase