Comments on: UIEtips Article: Web Form Design in the Wild http://www.uie.com/brainsparks/2007/10/02/uietips-article-web-form-design-in-the-wild/ UIE\'s latest insights on the world of design Fri, 5 Dec 2008 12:39:29 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Tom Shull http://www.uie.com/brainsparks/2007/10/02/uietips-article-web-form-design-in-the-wild/#comment-90318 Tom Shull Tue, 09 Oct 2007 01:04:17 +0000 http://www.uie.com/brainsparks/2007/10/02/uietips-article-web-form-design-in-the-wild/#comment-90318 I would recommend that those interested in forms design check out the website www.bfma.org. BFMA (previously known as the Business Forms Management Association) is the industry association made up of forms designers and managers. It has been around for almost 50 years! Obviously they started with their focus on paper forms, but are now very interested and involved in electronic forms, usability and related issues. They have a listserv called "Formspace" to which you can subscribe for questions, help, opinions, etc. I think both the usability community and the forms community would profit from more interaction between the two. I would recommend that those interested in forms design check out the website http://www.bfma.org. BFMA (previously known as the Business Forms Management Association) is the industry association made up of forms designers and managers. It has been around for almost 50 years! Obviously they started with their focus on paper forms, but are now very interested and involved in electronic forms, usability and related issues. They have a listserv called “Formspace” to which you can subscribe for questions, help, opinions, etc.
I think both the usability community and the forms community would profit from more interaction between the two.

]]> By: Paul Rouke http://www.uie.com/brainsparks/2007/10/02/uietips-article-web-form-design-in-the-wild/#comment-90007 Paul Rouke Thu, 04 Oct 2007 11:05:39 +0000 http://www.uie.com/brainsparks/2007/10/02/uietips-article-web-form-design-in-the-wild/#comment-90007 One of my most popular usability posts earlier this year was entitled <a href="http://www.paulrouke.co.uk/2007/05/05/form-field-best-practice-and-hints-to-assure-wary-users/" rel="nofollow">Form Field Best Practice and Hints to Assure Wary Users</a>. Hopefully this will provide some greater insight into the potential pitfalls of poorly designed and delivered forms (especially when a new user is negotiating a checkout process, where the industry wide issue of abandonment often occurs). One of my most popular usability posts earlier this year was entitled Form Field Best Practice and Hints to Assure Wary Users.

Hopefully this will provide some greater insight into the potential pitfalls of poorly designed and delivered forms (especially when a new user is negotiating a checkout process, where the industry wide issue of abandonment often occurs).

]]> By: Michael Zuschlag http://www.uie.com/brainsparks/2007/10/02/uietips-article-web-form-design-in-the-wild/#comment-89814 Michael Zuschlag Wed, 03 Oct 2007 12:19:02 +0000 http://www.uie.com/brainsparks/2007/10/02/uietips-article-web-form-design-in-the-wild/#comment-89814 I'm struck by how many design errors seem to be peculiar to web forms, and are nearly unheard-of for a thick-client desktop app: A desktop app would use a classic message box which shows the error in context (5), gives the message top visual priority (6), and doesn't erase earlier input (8). (Not that a message box is necessarily the best way to go for the web). A desktop app might have navigation to irrelevant windows (1), mismatch command and window name (2), and lack of defaults (3), but in practice these are very rare except in real amateur designs. Why is it necessary for web form designers to re-learn the lessons from the past? I’m struck by how many design errors seem to be peculiar to web forms, and are nearly unheard-of for a thick-client desktop app: A desktop app would use a classic message box which shows the error in context (5), gives the message top visual priority (6), and doesn’t erase earlier input (8). (Not that a message box is necessarily the best way to go for the web). A desktop app might have navigation to irrelevant windows (1), mismatch command and window name (2), and lack of defaults (3), but in practice these are very rare except in real amateur designs. Why is it necessary for web form designers to re-learn the lessons from the past?

]]> By: Bryan http://www.uie.com/brainsparks/2007/10/02/uietips-article-web-form-design-in-the-wild/#comment-89776 Bryan Wed, 03 Oct 2007 00:23:09 +0000 http://www.uie.com/brainsparks/2007/10/02/uietips-article-web-form-design-in-the-wild/#comment-89776 For short forms, I like to put the "this is what I started filling out this form in the first place for" input box first. For example, on a weblog, I want the big comment textarea at the top, the name field second and the e-mail third. If a reader has a reaction and wants to share it, I don't want to get in their way with administrivia. Also, I like to think it helps out those of us with extremely short attention spans. For short forms, I like to put the “this is what I started filling out this form in the first place for” input box first. For example, on a weblog, I want the big comment textarea at the top, the name field second and the e-mail third. If a reader has a reaction and wants to share it, I don’t want to get in their way with administrivia.

Also, I like to think it helps out those of us with extremely short attention spans.

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