Designing Usable Forms: The Three-Layer Model of the Form
http://www.stc.org/confproceed/2000/PDFs/00028.PDF

Jarrett, Caroline
STC Proceedings
2000

Abstract:

Why do people say 'I’m not good with forms' or 'I don’t like forms' when a form is only a piece of paper, or a screen, with some printing on it? There must be something special about forms that inspires these comments. The 'three-layer model” considers forms from three points of view: perceptual (layout), conversational (questions and answers) and relationship (the structure of the task). Analysing a form using the three layers helps to un-pick its problems, and to suggest ways of making it more usable.