#25499
Better Invoices for Better Business
Invoices that obfuscate information, incorrectly state terms or arrive incomplete can be a massive headache for all parties. These mistakes will only delay the payment process, so it is critical you produce invoices that clearly deliver information your client will need.
Potts, Kevin. List Apart, A (2004). Design>Web Design>Forms>Usability
#20643
Creating an online form can present developers with many challenges. This case study reviews how a paper-based form was taken through the usability engineering process to develop a functional online version. We discuss the steps in planning and research, prototype development, test design, and the usability test results.
#24552
Prevent major user annoyance by checking all your web forms: feedback, comment posting, product orders, newsletter sign-up, newsletter opt-in, unsubscribe option, site registration, etc. When a form won't submit, or otherwise fails, after user inputs lots of data, it causes extreme ill will toward your web site, and may be legal violation (UCE laws).
Streight, Steven. Blogger.com (2004). Articles>Web Design>Forms>Usability
#19333
Forms are often an essential element of an application or website. In fact they are the most popular way of gathering information or encouraging user feedback. Given the sort of information that forms are used to collect (such as registering for a service, or placing an order), the importance of ease-of-use hardly needs to be emphasised. These are tasks central to the success of many online businesses.
Farrell, Tom. Frontend Infocentre (2000). Design>Web Design>Usability>Forms
#27678
Five Ways To Make Sure That Users Abandon Your Forms
Completing a form is rarely (if ever) the goal in and of itself. The goal is to entice the user into a deeper relationship (of some sort) with your web site. Notice that I didn't say that the goal was to complete a transaction or make a sale.
Improving Customer Experience (2006). Design>Web Design>Forms>Usability
#26634
Once an online form goes beyond two screenfulls, it's often a sign that the underlying functionality is better supported by an application, which offers a more interactive user experience.
Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2005). Articles>Web Design>Forms>Usability
#31878
International Address Fields in Web Forms
As enablers of online conversations between businesses and customers, Web forms are often responsible for gathering critical information—email addresses for continued communications, mailing addresses for product shipments, and billing information for payment processing to name just a few. So it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that one of the most common questions I get asked about Web form design is: “How do I deal with international addresses?”
Wroblewski, Luke. UXmatters (2008). Design>Web Design>Forms>Usability
#28689
Placing a label above an input field works better in most cases, because users aren't forced to look separately at the label and the input field. Be careful to visually separate the label for the next input field from the previous input field.
Penzo, Matteo. UXmatters (2006). Design>Web Design>Forms>Usability
#29664
Name and Address Forms on the Web: Research into Usability 
Internet forms can be found on all kinds of sites that enable visitors to interact with companies, such as order forms in online shops or application forms on job boards. These forms ask visitors to fill out their name and address, which in many cases results in user errors as a consequence of design failures. In this article we report on a research project using event logs to analyze user errors and optimize the design of name and address forms. Two factors are identified as crucial for usability: the sequence of elements in the name field and the spatial orientation in the address field.
Lentz, Leo and Menno D.T. de Jong. STC Proceedings (2005). Design>Web Design>Forms>Usability
#30029
The Scott Adams Meltdown: Anatomy of a Disaster
A chain of five errors led to Scott Adams losing his work. Not one of those errors was his. They had been made months and even years before Scott Adams ever started work on his blog. His was an accident waiting to happen, an accident that has almost certainly befallen a large number of other individuals who have had the misfortune to use the same software.
Tognazzini, Bruce. Nielsen Norman Group (2006). Design>Web Design>Usability>Forms
#26569
Sensible Forms: A Form Usability Checklist
Sometimes it’s the little things that drive you nuts. As many of us have probably noticed during this season of holiday shopping, usability problems in online forms can be infuriating. Brian Crescimanno helps solve the problem with a checklist of form-usability recommendations.
Crescimanno, Brian. List Apart, A (2005). Design>Web Design>Usability>Forms
#22464
Follow these seven steps to make your forms - and your users - happy.
Reichley, Keith. SitePoint (2002). Design>Web Design>Forms>Usability
#27624
Simple Tricks for More Usable Forms
Web developers loathe the task of building forms almost as much as users loathe having to fill them in. These are both unfortunate facts of the Web, but some smart JavaScript and intelligent CSS can go a long way to remedying the situation. In this article, I'll introduce a number of simple tricks for improving the usability of forms, and hopefully inspire you to improve on them and create your own.
Willison, Simon. SitePoint (2004). Design>Web Design>Forms>Usability
#22385
Site Comment: Yellow Page Search on Krak.dk
Too many required choices, too much mouse moving, too weak words, and less obvious options make address search hard on Krak.dk.
Bohmann, Kristoffer. Bohmann Usability (2000). Design>Web Design>Usability>Forms
#32379
Getting a Form's Structure Right: Designing Usable Online Email Applications
There are a million websites out there. There are a million email service providers out there. How do you ensure that you gain the right audience to join your service? What are those factors that will help users move ahead and become your loyal customer? Part of the answer has to do with the first step: Registration!
Kirmani, Afshan. Boxes and Arrows (2008). Articles>Web Design>Forms>Usability
#33123
Five Ways To Make Sure That Users Abandon Your Forms
What do you really need to know in your form process? Be brutal. Don't include stuff that your sales team would like. Completing a form is rarely (if ever) the goal in and of itself. The goal is to entice the user into a deeper relationship (of some sort) with your web site. Notice that I didn't say that the goal was to complete a transaction or make a sale. That is evidence of the deeper relationship, not the vehicle by which you persuade your users.
Meyer, Eric. Improving Customer Experience (2006). Articles>Web Design>Usability>Forms
#33131
This document is concerned with what the user of a Website form "sees" and interacts with. It outlines how you can create forms for the Web that are more accessible and describes the appropriate use of.
Hudson, William. Webusability (2004). Articles>Web Design>Usability>Forms
#33133
You are writing captions or labels for fields in forms, for example 'Name' or 'Date of birth'. Should they be finished with a colon, or not?
Light, Ann. Usability News (2006). Articles>Web Design>Usability>Forms
#33135
Forms: The Importance of Getting it Right
Urgh – it’s what we all think when presented with a form to complete, whether printed or online. What is it about forms that make us feel this way? Maybe, the history of being officious and complicated, a drain on our time, and they often make us feel stressed. As forms represent a business or an organisation, all these feelings are subsequently associated with that organisation – not good for customer relations or reputation!
Lift (2007). Articles>Web Design>Usability>Forms
#33381
Over at Smiley Cat Web Design they’ve put together a showcase of many different login and registration forms. While you’re there, take a look at some of the other showcases listed in the sidebar. They have sets for calendars and date pickers, footers, search boxes, and many more.
CyberText Consulting (2008). Articles>Web Design>Forms>Usability
#34457
Tips for Creating Online Forms
Usability is central to the successful completion of online forms. Whether applying for insurance, completing tax returns or simply making an online purchase, a poorly designed or confusing form can lead to users abandoning the process. The following are some tips when designing online forms.
Frontend Infocentre (2009). Design>Web Design>Forms>Usability
#35397
(Almost) Never Add a Reset Button to a Form
Next time you consider adding a reset button to a form, think it through very carefully first. Does the user really benefit from being able to reset the form? Is being able to reset the form to its initial state so valuable that it is worth the risk of the user losing the data they have entered? Probably not.
456 Berea Street (2009). Articles>Web Design>Forms>Usability
