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design:web_form_guidelines
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| + | ====== Web Form Guidelines ====== | ||
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| + | ===== UX For Web Forms ===== | ||
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| + | ===== Best Practices for Web Form Design ===== | ||
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| + | The following post is summarized from the article [[https:// | ||
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| + | Careful form design has a huge impact on the speed with which users can understand and accurately complete a form. | ||
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| + | ==== 1. Visually group related labels and fields. ==== | ||
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| + | Visually group related labels and fields. | ||
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| + | Labels should be close to the fields they describe (immediately above the field for mobile and shorter desktop forms, or next to the field for extremely long desktop forms). | ||
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| + | If your form asks about two different topics, section it into two separate groups of fields. | ||
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| + | ==== 2. Present fields in a single column layout. ==== | ||
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| + | Multiple columns interrupt the vertical momentum of moving down the form. | ||
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| + | (Exceptions to this rule: short and/or logically related fields such as City, State, and Zip Code can be presented on the same row.) | ||
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| + | ==== 3. Avoid placeholder text. ==== | ||
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| + | Designers like placeholder text because it eliminates visual clutter. | ||
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| + | But placeholder text causes many usability problems, and is best avoided. | ||
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| + | ==== 4. Match fields to the type and size of the input. ==== | ||
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| + | Avoid drop-downs when there are only 2 or 3 options that could be displayed as radio buttons (which require only a single click or tap). | ||
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| + | Text fields should be about the same size as the expected input since it’s extremely error prone when users can’t see their full entry. | ||
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| + | For example, for 2,130 recent participants in the UX Conference, the user’s city of residence ranged between 3 characters (Leo, Indiana) to 22 characters (San Pedro Garza Garcia, Mexico). 99.9% of city names were 19 characters or shorter, making 19 characters a reasonable width for a city field. | ||
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| + | ==== 5. Distinguish optional and required fields. ==== | ||
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| + | Why use optional fields is always better than required : | ||
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| + | * An asterisk is obvious to you, not to everyone, believe me, there are always some who do not understand | ||
| + | * There are always more fields required than optional | ||
| + | * Less visual noise on your form makes it more readable and therefore faster to complete | ||
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| + | ==== 6. Avoid Reset and Clear buttons. ==== | ||
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| + | The risk of accidental deletion outweighs the unlikely need to ‘start over’ on a web form. | ||
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| + | In forms that collect extremely sensitive input such as financial information, | ||
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| + | ==== 7. Provide highly visible and specific error messages. ==== | ||
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| + | Errors should be signaled through a variety of cues, not solely through color: outline the field AND use red text AND use a heavier font, to ensure users don’t overlook this critical information. | ||