Simple and practical Web page form design: Designing Web Forms that users like

Source: Internet
Author: User
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Article Description: random talk about form design.

In contrast to what you know, it's not always easy to get a nice button, color, and font, plus a bunch of jquery plug-ins on your form. Really, this can only (sporadically) reflect 1/3 of the availability of the form.


in this article, we'll provide practical guidelines that can easily follow. These guidelines have been crafted from usability testing, field testing, website tracking, eye tracking, Web analytics D actual complaints made to the customer support personnel by disgruntled users.

In this article, we will provide you with a simple and practical guide. These elaborate guidelines include usability testing, field testing, site tracking, eye tracking, network analysis, and even customer complaints about customer service personnel.

Why Web Form usability is Important

Why is the availability of forms important?

The ISO 9241 standard defines website usability as the "effectiveness, efficiency an D satisfaction with which specified users achieve specified goals in particular environments. " When using a website, the users have a particular goal. If designed, the website would meet that goal and align it with the goals of the organization behind the website. Standing between the user's goal and the organization ' s goals is very often-a form, because, despite the advances in human -computer interaction, forms remain the predominant form of interaction for users on the Web. In fact, forms are often considered to is the last and most important of the stage of journey.

The definition of Web site usability in the ISO 9241 standard is that specific users can accomplish specific goals quickly, efficiently, and satisfactorily in a given environment. Users have a goal to use the site. If designed well, the site will not only reach the user's goal, but also connect it with the company's goals. It is often the form between a user's goal and a company's goal, because, despite the rapid development of human-computer interaction, forms are still the primary way for users to interact with the site. In fact, forms are often recognized as the last and most important station for accomplishing goals.

Let's
clarify this discussing the three main uses of forms. As Luke Wroblewski states in He book Web Form design:filling in the blanks, every form exists for one of three main reas Ons:commerce, community or productivity. The following table translates each of these reasons to the user and business objectives that lie behind them:

Let's illustrate the last point by discussing the three main roles of the form. As Luke Wroblewski in his bookWeb Form Design: The Art of Alchemy , there must be one or three reasons for each form: business, community, or efficiency. The following form translates these three reasons into the user and company goals behind it:


Uses of forms, based on Luke Wroblewski's Web Form design:filling in the blanks.

The role of the form, based on Luke Wroblewski'sWeb Form design: The Art of Alchemy .

Thus, the relationship between forms and usability
have two:

So visible, forms and usability are like the next two things:

1. Forms can make a website usable or unusable and because they stand in the way of the user achieving their; goal >

1. The form can make the website usable or not easy to use, because they block in the user to achieve the goal the road.

2. Forms need
to is usable in order to help the user achieve that goal.

2. In order to help users achieve their goals, the form must be easy to use.

This post'll focus
on the second point, because a usable form would naturally contribute to the overall usability O f the website, hence the aspect.

This article will focus on the 2nd, because the form is easy to use, the overall availability of the site will naturally improve, that is, the 1th above.

The
Six components of Web Forms

Six parts of a form

Web forms are a necessity and often a pain point for both designers and users. Over time, the users have formed expectations of how a form should look and behave. They typically expect Web forms to have the following six:

For designers and users, forms are love and hate. As time goes by, the user has his or her own expectations for the form and mode of operation of the form. Basically, they expect the form to contain the following six parts:

1. Labels These tell users what the corresponding input fields mean.

1. Label. Tell the user what should be filled in the corresponding input field.

2. Input Fields input Fields enable users to provide feedback. They include text fields, password fields, check boxes, radio buttons, sliders and more.

2. Input fields. For users to provide feedback. This includes text entry boxes, password input boxes, multiple selection boxes, radio boxes, sliders, and so on.

3. Actions These are links or buttons this, when pressed by the user, perform an action, such as submitting the form .

3. Operation. Includes links and buttons, and when clicked, the user performs an action, such as submitting a form.

4. Help this provides assistance
on the "How to" fill out the form.

4. Help. Provide help for filling out forms.

5. Messages Messages give feedback to the user based on their input. They can be positive (such as indicating this form was submitted successfully) or negative ("The user name for you have SE Lected is already taken ").

5. Information. Feedback for user input. It may be affirmative (such as prompting the form to be submitted successfully), or it may be negative ("The username has been registered").

6. Validation These measures ensure this data submitted by the user conforms to acceptable parameters.

6. Verification. Ensure that the data submitted by the user conforms to the parameter rules.



Skype ' s registration form contains all six components.

The Skype registration form contains the above six sections.

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