Designing your form is much more than writing a document. Forms are intended to help users answer questions and provide data back to another person or process. In addition to the words, forms must provide fields for entering data and providing the answers to questions. Field attributes play an important role in making a form easy or difficult to understand and complete.

Field Length

QUIK! TIP: Make a field long enough for the intended data, but not too long if less data is expected.

The length of a field should be proportional to the amount of data expected. For example, if the form asks the user for a state abbreviation, then very little space is required to allow the user to input a two-letter abbreviation. On the other hand, if the space available for state is much larger, then the user may think it appropriate to write in the entire state name. Note that this may result in data that requires the processor of the form to interpret the value in order to find the correct abbreviation (which is wasted time in the long-run and may result in a form that is not in good order).

The most common problem with form design is when fields are too short for the intended data.

When making space for a field, be sure to provide a visual aid to tell the user where the intended data should be entered. For example, provide an underline ____________ where the answer should appear (see section on Field Lines for more information).

Field Height

QUIK! TIP: Make the fields the same height from field to field.

The height of a field is often overlooked and inconsistent in form design because height becomes an inherent attribute of how text is placed on the page instead of a deliberate act to make specific space for the field. The field height when automating the form is assumed to be the distance between the bottom line where the data should be entered and either the bottom edge of the text above the line or the next line above.

On some forms one section of text will be given more space below it than other lines in an attempt to make that line of text stand out (e.g. to display that the client name is important). This type of text spacing results in telling the user that there is a lot of space available for these fields, but not the rest of the fields. Moreover, the user wants to have plenty of space to fill in data, but the remaining fields are much smaller and harder to work with.

Field Proportions & Consistency

QUIK! TIP: Text fields should all be the same height and checkboxes should all be the same size.

Field sizing is one of the main attributes to how effectively a user can fill out the form. Consistency is the main factor that allows a user to become comfortable with how the form is intended to work, which includes designing fields that are consistent and proportional to the data that is expected. The main problem with inconsistent proportions is with items like checkboxes. When one checkbox is larger than another checkbox, the user is forced to ask whether the larger checkbox is actually a checkbox or not. With text fields, if a text field is abnormally small, the user will easily skip over it and not fill in the value, potentially resulting in a rejected form.