Comments on: Form Usability and UX goodness

By: Marina Kountsevitch

Tue, 04 Oct 2011 03:44:02 +0000

Great article. I would like to add some tips about validation. For web consistency, always use an asterisk (*) to indicate a required field, and in red if the background color allows. It can also help to display a message for what the asterisk means, although many web users will know automatically. This is the most consistent and non-intrusive way for indicating what is required and what is not.

By: John

John — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 07:41:29 +0000

David Hamill :
Thanks for the link love John.

No worries, keep writing the good articles and I'll keep reading them :)

Alex Taylor :
validation using class attributes is only on a per-field basis. Is there any way to do it?

If you're ready to move to HTML5 style syntax, you could try the HTML5 style form validation attributes. Modern browsers will understand what you mean, and there are JavaScript polyfills available for those that don't. (See http://blog.mozilla.com/webdev/2011/03/14/html5-form-validation-on-sumo/)

By: Alex Taylor

Alex Taylor — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 05:09:28 +0000

I’m using inline validation greatly for my forms, but now I need to specify a validation condition for two fields and I didn’t find anything in the documentation, as it seems that validation using class attributes is only on a per-field basis. Is there any way to do it?

By: David Hamill

David Hamill — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 07:26:27 +0000

It's great that you're all getting more people through your forms by using inline validation.

I'd urge you to have a look at your forms for fields that can be removed altogether. If you consider that inline validation may be reducing (I'm going to pick numbers out of the air here) the dropouts from 10% to 3% for each question that you ask on your form. How about if a question wasn't asked at all? That'd be 10% to 0% by removing it completely.

Just a thought. Thanks for the link love John.

By: Jenn

Jenn — Wed, 25 May 2011 21:34:42 +0000

I just started using inline validation on one of my forms on a new site that I am developing just to test it. The inline validation actually increased the submission rate by 30%. This really surprised us. Thanks for the info.

By: Heidy

Heidy — Fri, 20 May 2011 16:54:14 +0000

Its important to always keep the user in mind and remember that if are confused in any way, they’ll usually bolt from a site! I know I do .

By: Emmitt

Emmitt — Fri, 13 May 2011 03:56:57 +0000

I found the post on form validation very helpful. I agree with you that you can give users a much better experience if they get immediate feedback when filling out a form.

By: Dave

Dave — Thu, 05 May 2011 04:10:43 +0000

Thanks for the suggestion not to put hints inside text boxes. It’s one of those things that is brain-dead simple when you pointed it out, but probably answers why we are having problems (and complaints) with getting our forms filled out. We’ll make the switch and see what happens.

By: JT Cooper

JT Cooper — Mon, 02 May 2011 22:40:03 +0000

It is refreshing to find a post that actually does help our IM efforts without having to redo and redo. We are also getting more and better feedback from our readers than we ever have in the past . Thanks for taking sharing with us.

By: Johnny

Johnny — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 18:14:48 +0000

After implemented inline validation on forms to test it i am surprised by its performance. This is really nice By tracking how many people started completing forms compared to actually submitting then we saw that inline validation increased submission rates. We are getting more feedback from our readers than before.