Design forms that people want to fill

3 takeaways from what i learnt designing forms

Forms are a part of everyday life, and honestly, they aren’t always the best of experiences. Whether it may be confirming your plane tickets for a getaway or checking out items for your shopping cart. We all have wished that forms could be designed just a little bit better.

Even though we now have more options of introducing emerging tech, bots, biometrics and more into our interactive designs, the fundamental structure and purpose of forms have changed very little from the paper forms that we still have around today.

Essentially, forms need to be Communicative and Accommodating.

Communicative forms help users understand why they are there in the first place. It’s a conversation, not an interrogation.

Accommodating forms let users feel they are getting the right amount of attention. When they make mistakes in the form-filling process, good forms help them find their way back, or make things easier. They consider designs that accommodate usability and accessibility.

Below are three good practices that can inform your next form-building project for your work or your own website.

1. Remove as many form fields as possible — then repeat

In the example above, Airbnb allows users to sign up with their e-mail, but with minimal fields and absolute ease for the customer. I know it’s sometimes impossible to get rid of some items in your form (for many reasons) but we should always strive for minimal fields. To make my design process abit more organised, I will ask some of these questions below:

• Can labels be reworked so additional fields wouldn’t need to be included? — Having a ‘Full Name’ field instead of breaking it into ‘First’ and ‘Last name’?
• Can this item be asked of the customer at another stage in their journey (not in this form)?
• Can an item be removed with negotiation from stakeholders/product owners?(this is tough, as you’ll…