Making Smart Online Forms

Nearly every sales or marketing web site has online form somewhere on the site. It could be a Shopping Cart, a Contact form, a Bid form, an Information Request form, or some other type that allows the user to communicate directly with the web site owner. Too often these forms are poorly designed and written, and quickly developed without appropriate thought given to ensuring the form is beneficial to the person who will use it.

While you might have a form that has worked “for years,” putting it online might not give you the same results. We were called in to assist with recently redesigned Information Request form. The new form resulted in a drop-off of nearly 65% compared to the original form submission rates. After doing research on the new form, and comparisons of similar forms, Technotribe discovered that too much information was being required, poorly wordy field labels, and asking decisions of the person using the form much too early in the sales funnel. While the new form was designed to meet a business goal, it missed connecting to the very people who were to use the form!

We have learned that the key to better online forms is to:

• first understand the business need for the form
• next, consider the point of view of the person who is filling out the form
• finally, test the form to ensure it meets the need of both of the these

When putting a form online, it is important to understand who in the business needs the information you are collecting. Data collection is key to business decisions, and your form will become an important component in that process. Whether the information is going into a database or spreadsheet, it is important to communicate the following to your form designer:

• Field label: Descriptive text describing what needs to be entered.
• Input type: How the person using the form enters the data. (e.g., text field, drop-down menu, list)
• Validation rules: How the form will check to be sure the appropriate data is entered.
• Required fields: Which part of the form must be completed in order to submit, or send the form data to the server.
• Data format: How the form information needs to be sent to your internal systems. (e.g., email, comma-delimited or CSV file, .mdb or other database format)

We believe that it is important to understand the point of view of the person completing the form. Why are they at your web site? Are they researching a product or service, or coming to take an action? Will they have access to information needed to complete the form? Are they at home, in the office, or at an off-site location? What is the typical time needed to complete the form? By understanding the types of person coming to your site, it is easier to create a web experience that will meet both their web browsing goals and your business needs. Improving an online form based on this kind of information includes:

• Replacing your internal business jargon with more universal labels and instruction.
• Minimizing the amount of information collected for an initial contact or request form.
• Providing “user-friendly” error messages that help fix input mistakes.
• Pre-populating information for ‘registered’ users.
• Allowing a registered user to ‘edit’ contact and demographic information.

Once the form has been developed, it is time to test it! The best way to ensure your form will meet its intended design is to put it in front of real people – that match your intended audience. While asking a friend or co-worker to “give it a try” might quality as user-testing, it won’t reflect the true test the form will face once it is launched on the Web. Work with your customer service department to identify real customers who might be inclined to help test your form. Anyone who has bothered to submit a comment on a web form –especially about a poor form experience – is ideal for a test subject. Consider a simple incentive, like a discount code or free shipping, to thank each person who assists you in the testing. If you have the budget, consider a usability test, to ensure a controlled environment and test moderator. This is crucial for ecommerce and other forms that have significant business value.

Next: Create and Manage Online Forms – Online!

Tags: online forms