Mobile form design is a critical part of any mobile forms app. It’s the first thing users see when they open your forms, and it can be one of the most important factors in determining whether or not people will use your forms.
If you want to make sure that your forms are optimized for both iOS and Android devices, here are some best practices:
1. Use responsive forms.
Responsive web applications designs have been around since 2010, but responsive form design has only recently become more popular as designers realize how much easier it makes things on smaller screens. The idea behind responsive form design is simple – if someone opens an email from you on their phone, they expect everything to look good no matter what device they’re using. This means that all fields should resize appropriately based on screen size so there aren’t huge gaps between them. You also don’t need to worry about different font sizes because every field resizes automatically depending on its content.
2. Add features that make forms more user-friendly.
When designing forms, remember that people will ultimately fill out the information you provide. Therefore, make sure that everything is easy to read, understand, and navigate. This includes things such as colour choices, font sizes, line spacing, margins, padding, and more. But also including features such as dropdown menus, radio buttons, checkboxes, and sliders.
Try not to overdo these form features options, though. Remember, less is always better! Also, think about accessibility issues and ensure that everyone has the ability to complete the form without assistance.
3. Make the right forms available.
Most people who have cognitive or visual impairments face many challenges when completing forms. For this reason, designers must minimize those challenges whenever possible by implementing established form accessibility best practices.
A recent study suggested that of the people with disabilities, 91% use mobile devices. Advancements in technology have helped uncover new opportunities for people with disabilities to connect with the world. However, the ability to take advantage of such opportunities depends on how accessible mobile designs are.
It is important that you optimize home controls for every screen reader, create high contrast and user-friendly designs, enable various keyboard functionalities for your mobile forms, and support voice input methods for every form field and text to speech capabilities as well. This will make it easy for even people with cognitive impairment to access and complete your forms.
4. Divide long forms into simple stages or steps.
Sometimes, it is nearly impossible to reduce forms to simple input fields and click the submit button. For instance, many online banking processes and bureaucratic procedures require complicated forms. To make it easier for users to fill in multiple page forms, let them know how far they have gone towards completing the form and what specific stages or steps are coming next. For example, you can have a progress bar showing how far the user has gone in terms of filling in the form.
5. Keep your forms short but ask the important questions.
A step-by-step form breaks a seemingly complicated task into simple and digestible chunks. Things will not only minimise the risks of a user missing an important field but also alleviates the anxiety associated with handling a difficult task. In the end, users will find it easy to complete even complicated forms with many pages. This is good news for marketers or other employees collecting important data.
In the context of using a Mobile form, particularly when users are outdoors surrounded by distractions or in a crowded place, marketers often experience high form failure or abandonment rates. Lengthy and complicated forms usually have a higher abandonment rate. This is the primary reason you should have few fields for users to fill in because they will be able to complete the entire form faster. This is a more reliable way of collecting information successfully.
From a design perspective, having short forms means pruning all your questions that are not necessary. Questions such as how did you hear about our products? Or are you likely to recommend a product to your friend? Should be eliminated. Although such information may be good for your marketing team such fields can discourage users from completing a form. It is also important to avoid inflicting unnecessary pain particularly when asking some questions that require specific answers from respondents.
So, have an expert check your forms, analyse the questions asked, and ensure that each field is necessary. What’s not necessary should be eliminated. This way, you will make it easy for the form users to use the forms or provide the information you seek.
Summary.
Mobile forms are associated with many benefits for marketers and organizations. To ensure that you design great forms, implement the best practices discussed above.
