Designing Web Forms: Effectively Collect User Data

Course Curriculum

The Building Blocks of a Good Web Form (3 Lessons, 19 min)

• Course Overview & Downloads
• The Anatomy of a Web Form
• What’s the Difference Between Good and Bad Forms?

Deciding What to Ask (and What Not to Ask) (3 Lessons, 52 min)

• How to Plan a Web Form Project
• How to Eliminate Unnecessary Questions
• How to Document Form Requirements with the Question Protocol

Asking Clean, Clear Form Questions (5 Lessons, 70 min)

• How Do Users Interpret Your Form Questions?
• Three Rules for Clear Form Copy
• Three Ways to Phrase Form Questions
• The Memory Matrix: 4 Types of User Data
• Why Users Hesitate (and How to Gain Their Trust)

Web-Form Interaction Design: Controls, Errors, and Support (9 Lessons, 81 min)

• When to Reach for the 10 Essential Input Controls
• Demo: Choosing Input Controls for a Medical Intake Form with 4 Questions
• Seven Common Form Questions and How to Ask Them
• Where, How, and When to Show Errors
• Beyond the Red Text: How to Prevent Errors
• Structure: Grouping, Whitespace, and Layouts
• Transparency: Requirements and Progress
• Clarity: Labels, Helpers, and Field Width
• Support: Constraints and Keyboard Navigation

Designing the Flow through Your Form (4 Lessons, 61 min)

• Organizing Form Questions by Difficulty, Importance, or Sensitivity
• Adapting to Users with Conditional Logic
• Flowcharts: The Best Form Mapping Method
• Breaking Forms into Digestible Pieces

Finalizing, Delivering, and Evaluating Your Forms (4 Lessons, 49 min)

• Three Ways to Test Your Forms Before Launch
• What to Include in Your Form Spec Handoff
• Five Ways to Measure Form Performance
• Where to Go From Here