5 More Web Design Usability Techniques For Forms
Forms can be quite annoying to users. We have all had to fill out “The Form From Hell” at one point or another. Often they are created with no regard to usability whatsoever. The form is sometimes a direct reflection of the organization of a backend database, and human needs are not taken into acount.
There is a great article on sitepoint today titled Checklist for Usability Forms. Based on our own experience with forms, here are a few items that probably seem like no-brainers, but I would also like to see the web’s programmers take into account:
1. Never erase user-entered data
Sometimes a form will have a required field that we humans miss at the first go. “Oh, my title was required?!” I enter “King of the world”, but then discover my credit card details need to be entered again. Who knows what will be missing if I mess that up? If the form is on a secure server, even credit card information can be kept between page requests.2. If the form requires JavaScript, let the user know
Although users are surfing with JavaScript turned on most of the time, there is nothing worse than finding a form you just filled in requires JavaScript to actually be submitted. Sometimes I’m testing pages with JavaScript turned off, and I’d appreciate the warning when it’s needed. After I fill out a form and see the submit going nowhere, I usually check my JavaScript settings. Then I refresh the page, and all of my precious data entry is gone! My tired and worn fingers just look up at me and sigh as we start filling in fields again.
3. Autofill wherever possible
When a user has to type in their billing address, web designers should also offer a box to copy all information to the “shipping address” field, or it should automatically be filled in. Intelligent web form design should mean users are never required to enter the same information twice. Unless lives are at stake, our web forms can usually make the correct guess.4. Make it easy for users to find their country in a list
When 99.9% of site visitors are from the United States, it is not impolite to list the United States at the top of the list, and even have it preselected. Yes, I said it – preselected. Rarely is it appropriate to have Afghanistan as the first option(or the option that has already been selected). I cannot tell you how many sites still think I’m located in the “United States minor islands” due to my lack of apparent skill with a mouse.In most cases, we web developers can even sense the visitor’s country of origin by looking at their IP Address. Why not preselect the country of origin accordingly?
5. Set the tab order of form fields when necessary
Most forms do not require this step, but be sure to tab through the form in various browsers. In most cases, you won’t find anything strange. But that one percent is what testing is for, isn’t it?Please feel free to comment with additional tips. I didn’t see a way to add tips to the original article, but we can certainly add them here. We’ve all encountered the poorly designed web form. Tell us about it – we won’t think you’re crazy. Let it out: You’re among friends.
Tags: denver web design, search engine optimization, website development, denver web development, seo, website design
