Web Forms - Common Mistakes

If you've been filling any web forms you'll know just how annoying bad forms can be. This is because the people who make them seldom know what kind of people would be filling the data. This article looks at some advice on creating the web forms in a better and effective way.

1. Your visitors are not just Americans!- You would be surprised to see the number of web forms which have only the US as the country of residence. Well keep in mind that your visitors can be from anywhere and not just US. The non-US visitors might find it a bit insulting to be asked to register for something, only to see that the site does not have an option for any other country other than the US.

2. Large Drop-Down lists- It’s been seen that some forms have huge drop-down menus which can be very inconvenient for users. Selecting your option from a huge array of options can be very annoying. Drop down lists that have number of options and requires scroll bars to see all the options are difficult to use and inconvenient – you’d rather allow the user to just type it.

3. Username-already taken, Offer some alternatives- It often happens that the username you are trying to take has already been taken by somebody else. What to do in such case? Just don't say "sorry, this username has already been taken". Come up with some useful suggestions or alternatives that are available.

4. Display Warnings on the Page- There are few things more annoying than websites which pop-up those little alert boxes, creating the annoying ding sound in the process. If there's something which is not filled in properly add the warning to the page itself, beside the area where the information has to be filled preferably with a red font. Don't let your users read a dialog box, click OK, and scroll back up to look and rectify the mistake.

5. Ask what is actually needed- This is a very important advice before you create a web-form. Unless the information the web form is asking for isn't required, don't ask for it. Remember, the longer the time taken to fill your web form the more the user would be frustrated, and more likely not to finish filling the complete web form. You can avoid asking what language the user wants to use – the browser tells that in the HTTP headers. Don't ask which country the user is from – it can be detected from the IP address.