In this podcast for Tom’s blog, I’d Rather Be Writing, I get to talk about my new book, Forms that Work: Designing Web Forms for Usability, co-authored with Gerry Gaffney. We discuss the perceived value users must feel in order to partContinue reading… Tom Johnson interviews Caroline about her new book, Forms that Work
Category: Forms
Progressive disclosure: valid or sneaky?
Gianpiero on social media asked: “What do you feel about progressive disclosure in forms? Valid or sneaky (considering you’re probably hiding a lot of fields)?” I’m a huge fan of progressive disclosure, provided it’s used in an honest way. LetContinue reading… Progressive disclosure: valid or sneaky?
How to deal with international addresses on a website
Caroline Jarrett explains why offering users a plain field to enter their address is a better option than forcing them to use a format you’ve devised based on your own country’s standard way of expressing an address.
Where to place labels in forms
Small details can affect a user’s experience of filling out a form. At the 2009 UXPA conference Caroline Jarrett explains what some of those small details are and how to make forms more usable.
Designing paper forms
As the book Forms that Work: Designing web forms for usability is published, one of its’ authors, Caroline Jarrett, explains which of its chapters contain advice that can equally be useful when creating paper forms
Colours and Culture – don’t always believe what you read
Thinking about colour in the context of different cultures can be more complicated than we’re led to believe. Caroline Jarrett points out some of the pitfalls.
Forms that Work: book by Caroline Jarrett and Gerry Gaffney
Forms that Work by Caroline Jarrett and Gerry Gaffney is published. The authors explain where to get the book and in 2025 update the post to explain why they won’t be doing a new edition.
Label placement in forms: what’s best?
Introduction Forms are ubiquitous and a major way in which websites can become interactive. But they tend to receive little design attention – and much of that is spent arguing about details. This talk looks at one of those details:Continue reading… Label placement in forms: what’s best?
Buttons on forms – where to put them, and what to call them
Here’s a question that I get asked quite often: “Should we put ‘OK’ button to the left or the right of the ‘Cancel’ button?” A common variant is to ask the same question with ‘Back’ or ‘Previous’ instead of ‘Cancel’,Continue reading… Buttons on forms – where to put them, and what to call them
Delivering Better Ballots
“An election is not held to test voters’ ability to follow instructions, but to receive instructions from the voters as to which candidates they will elect. No legitimate public purpose is served by designs that distort those instructions.” It’s goodContinue reading… Delivering Better Ballots