Web Form Design: Filling in the Blanks

Smart Defaults in Registration & Travel Booking Forms

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 20:32:00 -0500

On Functioning Form, I discuss smart defaults (selections put in place that provide answers to questions for you) in registration & travel booking forms. Check out the full articles:

Smart Defaults in Registration Forms
When electing to join the Naymz site from an email invitation, you only need to select a password. Your name and email address have been filled in for you...

Smart Defaults in Travel Booking Forms
Now last I checked, the majority of people booking flights online are adults and they generally intend to travel on the flight they book...

International Address Fields in Web Forms

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 14:05:04 -0500

Since publishing Web Form Design, one of the most frequent questions I've gotten about online forms is “How do I deal with international addresses?” So for my Communication Design column in UXmatters this month, I outlined many of the international address variations designers need to consider and a few solutions to the problem.

Check out the article at UXmatters:
International Address Fields in Web Forms

Labels Within Inputs

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 00:11:06 -0500

On Functioning Form, I discuss the considerations behind combining labels and input fields into a single user interface element using an example from LinkedIn. Check out the full article: Web Form Design: Labels Within Inputs

Now on sale!

Sun, 04 May 2008 23:16:50 -0500

Luke Wroblewski's Web Form Design: Filling in the Blanks is now available for purchase! Buy directly from Rosenfeld Media and pay US$36 for the paperback and digital editions, US$19 for digital only.

The paperback is 244 pages with high quality paper stock, a sewn binding, and a full color interior. At 6"x9", it'll be easy to stuff in your carry-on bag for reading during the flight to your next client meeting. And of course, the digital edition (373 pages) is pretty easy to take along too; in fact, it's been designed, tested, and optimized for on-screen use. Both editions are graced with 216 illustrations, which we've made available for you via Flickr to peruse, download, and use in your own presentations.

We're quite thrilled with Luke's work—from his original research to volume of practical advice he's managed to cram into this book. We hope you'll enjoy it as much as we have.

Update on the book's launch

Fri, 02 May 2008 16:49:33 -0500

Update, 1pm ET May 3: Oh so close, but we'd prefer to get everything with our digital edition just right before launching. We're hoping to have it done tonight! Stay tuned here for more updates.

Well, we're still shooting for Web Form Design to go on sale here at the Rosenfeld Media site today. But as of a few moments ago, the book has shown up in Amazon, and you can purchase it there.

But wait! Before you order from Amazon, there is a better way to get the book. It's right here, at our site. Better for you in that you'll receive the paperback and the digital edition, designed and tested for on-screen use, for the same US$36 that you'd pay Amazon for the paperback alone. Better for us too: when you buy direct, you're supporting a small, independent, and highly responsive publishing house. Either way, your order will ship from the same warehouse in Ypsilanti, Michigan, USA. So if you can wait just a little bit longer, please do; we'd appreciate it.

One last note: Rosenfeld Media books are not available through bricks-and-mortar retailers. So save some gas and order from the comfort of your own computer.

Images and updates galore

Thu, 01 May 2008 10:13:49 -0500

Hi, Luke's publisher here with some quick updates:

All 218 images from Web Form Design, including the front and back covers, are now available for download under a Creative Commons license. Check them out in Flickr.
We've also made book cover "badges" with embeddable code available.
Most importantly, the book itself is, as I type, on its way to the warehouse. It will go on sale this evening (ET) or tomorrow. We're very excited and hope you will be too!

Publishing Update

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 01:12:17 -0500

After sweating the details and finalizing editing, layout, and indexing Web Form Design is ready to go to the printer this week. So it's with much glee I'm letting you know that printed copies of the book will be available in about 4 weeks.

To make up for the delay (we were originally scheduled to release in March), anyone who signs up for a publication notification will receive a discount code for the book upon its release sometime near April 20th. Thanks~

Upcoming Form Design Workshops

Sun, 23 Mar 2008 00:36:46 -0500

Over the past month, I've been distilling the content within my upcoming book, Web Form Design: Filling in the Blanks, into a full day workshop of exercises and presentations on Web form design essentials, best practices, and research findings. Specifically: form organization, conversational inputs, group distinctions, paths to completion, minimal distractions, tabbing, label alignment, input field lengths, required inputs, flexible inputs, additional inputs, flexible inputs, messaging, input groups, actions, inline validation, help & tips, gradual engagement, and more!

So it's with great pleasure I invite you to the following events:

On March 26th I'll be presenting a full day workshop on Web Form Design at Web App Summit 2008 in San Diego, CA.
On Friday, April 11th, I'll be teaching this full day workshop at IA Summit in Miami, Florida.

Hope to see some of you at one of these events!

Two Web Forms in the Wild

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 15:56:46 -0500

On Functioning Form, I wrote up some form design issues I encountered on Southwest Airlines and CORGI alongside some form design tips to remedy the problems.

Publishing Date

Mon, 14 Jan 2008 11:14:37 -0500

As some people have started asking when Web Form Design Best Practices will be in their hands, I figured a post about our publishing schedule would be appropriate. At this point, the manuscript is written and in the hands of my editor. Following this editorial pass, we'll be working on layout and getting everything to the printer in the middle of February.

Printed copies will be available in March 2008. Sign up to be notified when they are available. Thanks!

A Few Form Design Articles

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 00:03:53 -0500

Though I have an upcoming book on the topic, I’m not the only one writing about Web forms. Here are a few recent articles that touch on some interesting or important form design topics.

Messing up the interface
This article does a great job illustrating how forms can get more complicated as numerous departments add their requirements. By visualizing the progression of a simple form to one that meets the needs of sales, engineering, legal, and marketing, this write-up illuminates why forms need to communicate with one voice despite multiple stakeholders.

Wufoo Form Gallery
Online form-builder, Wufoo launched a gallery of HTML templates and CSS themes that allows anyone to create a variety of forms and put them to use quickly. They also added flexible CSS layouts and label placement options to their popular Web form builder.

Approaches to Character Limit Cut-offs
The post outlines a few approaches to communicating text limits within input fields and showcases examples from Twitter and LinkedIn.

Web Form Design: ZIP Codes & Locations

Sat, 24 Nov 2007 00:32:26 -0500

On Functioning Form, I published an article discussing when to ask questions and how focusing on ZIP codes and addresses in Web Forms. The full article: Web Form Design: ZIP Codes & Locations

Web Form Design in the Wild, Part 2

Sat, 13 Oct 2007 05:46:47 -0500

User Interface Engineering published part two of a compilation of recent form design articles I've written. The two part series outlines several lessons learned from Web Form Design in the Wild (Part 2).

Web Form Design in the Wild, Part I

Wed, 03 Oct 2007 00:05:10 -0500

User Interface Engineering published part one of a compilation of recent form design articles I've written. The two part series outlines several lessons learned from Web Form Design in the Wild.

Web Form Design: British Airways

Tue, 02 Oct 2007 01:29:51 -0500

On Functioning Form, I published an article outlining problems with primary & secondary actions on the British Airways checkout form. The full article: Web Form Design: British Airways.