Introduction:
Think about a website you’ve visited that does not include a form of any kind. I’m talking no registration form, survey, billing or shipping form, customer feedback form, or even simple email sign up form.
Companies implement forms on their websites to provide visitors with a way to sign up for an account, purchase a product, pay for an item, and more. That’s why online form design matters so much — without a simple, user-friendly, aesthetically pleasing form, how are you supposed to entice your visitors to take the time to provide you with all of that personal information?
Well, you really can’t — not without great form design.
What is form design?
Form design is the process of creating a web form — where your site visitors can input and submit their information — while keeping the form’s layout, format, UX, appearance, and other factors in mind. Great form design enhances UX and helps boost conversions.
Why Does Form Design Matter?
The design of your form impacts your website’s overall user experience (UX), which in turn directly impacts your number of happy visitors and conversions. A well-designed form shows users that your brand is helpful, thoughtful, professional, tech-savvy, and enjoyable to work with.
A poorly-designed form, on the other hand, may lead to page and website abandonment or a frustrated user and, therefore, a decrease in conversions and sales. For example, Expedia learned they were losing $12 million a year in profits because of one extraneous form field box alone!
Web forms are critical for converting users into customers, so you want to make yours easy-to-use, professional, and sleek. In this guide, we’ll review 15 practices you can use to design a great form, including the importance of web form user interface (UI) design, mobile form design, and call to action (CTA) design.
Form Design Best Practices: 15 Tips to Boost Conversions and UX
The design of your form impacts your website’s overall user experience (UX), which in turn directly impacts your number of happy visitors and conversions. A well-designed form shows users that your brand is helpful, thoughtful, professional, tech-savvy, and enjoyable to work with.
1. Be simple and straightforward
If a form asks for too much information, you risk losing submissions and conversions. In fact, Imagescape was able to increase conversion rates by 120% by simply reducing their number of form fields from 11 to four. When creating your form, include only the most crucial information you need and refrain from adding any unnecessary fields and questions.
2. Use one column
Tick to a single-column web form layout — an especially important tip when creating long, multi-step forms. Single-column layouts are easier to follow, understand, complete, and submit for your visitors.
A study by CXL Institute found participants were able to complete a single-column form an average of 15.4 seconds faster than a multi-column form. Your visitors don’t want to waste their time trying to understand and complete your form. In fact, you might just lose their business if your form is too difficult to work through.
3. Use inline form field validation
Inline form validation is a process in which a visitor’s information is reviewed in real-time as they work their way through the form. If your visitors fill in a field with incorrect information, such as an invalid email address or credit card number, an error message will appear below or inside the form field notifying the visitor of their error so they can quickly correct it and move on to the next question.
4. Align text to the left
Align all of your text (questions and labels) to the left side of the form so it’s natural to read and complete for your visitors. University of Basel researchers found aligning your text on the left side, above the form field box, lowers the amount of time needed to complete the form. This natural alignment decreases the amount a user’s eyes need to jump across the page and makes the form more readable
Conclusion
No matter what type of business you run or work for, chances are you have at least one type of web form on your site. By applying these form design tips that enhance UX, as well as UI design, mobile form design, and CTA design, you’ll provide your visitors with a reliable and positive experience that helps you boost conversions. So, think about the forms that you need to include on your site and begin implementing design tips and takeaways that apply best to your business’ needs and goals.