The primary goal of anyone filling out your form is to complete it. Your goal is to make it as easy as possible for them to accomplish their goal. Follow these simple best practices to help your users accomplish their goal.
1.) Use Clear Scan Lines
This often overlooked aspect of form design can help increase completion rates. Scan lines are the visual arrangement of elements on your form. They determine how the human eye interacts with your form as your audience scans the page.
A single, clear, scan line can help users process the questions your form is asking. It also keeps people on task. The fewer zigzagging eye movements your form required, the easier it is for your audience to scan and complete the form.
2.) Primary & Secondary Actions
Your scan lines should run right down the page, and end in your forms primary action. What’s your form’s primary action? To get the audience to submit it.
The submit button on your form is arguably the most important element on your form. It should have the most visual weight, and it should garner the user’s attention.
Because the submit action is your primary action, everything else is secondary. Make your form’s primary action a different color than any secondary actions (like cancel, reset or save & finish later). Make it stand out, and make it the last item in your form’s clear scan lines.
Here’s another important thing to consider. Which should come first: the submit button or the reset button?
Logiforms’ design puts the the submit button first, and then the reset button. Why? In addition to being the standard on Windows operating systems, it’s the logical choice for users that read from left to right. It’s the first option, the one you want users to click.
3.) Minimize Distractions
Our goal of illuminating the path to completion and guiding the user through to completion means we need to remove distractions from your form.
Audit your form and all of the elements on the page. If the elements (graphics, text, navigation elements) don’t assist in providing a path to completion, remove them from the form.
Look at the the Amazon.com checkout process. It’s devoid of all the header elements, navigation bars, and offers. Amazon wisely minimizes distractions, helping to keep users on task and limiting form abandonment.
Consider how you can do the same with your forms. One option is to launch your form in a pop-up window with only the form, or use a page on your site with minimal distractions.
Review these tips to keep your users on track and focused. These best practices help you and them accomplish your respective goals. it’s a win-win.