Mobile Design Pattern Gallery, 2nd Edition

Chapter 2. Forms

Patterns

Sign In, Registration, Registration with Personalization, Checkout, Calculator, Search Form, Multi-Step, Long Form

Most web applications rely extensively on forms for data entry and configuration. And although we have compelling research and design strategies for effective form design, there are still horrible forms all over the Web. We do our best to muddle through them to set up online accounts, buy merchandise, submit applications, answer surveys, and the like.

Figure 2-1. American Airlines flight booking on Windows Phone: poor form design

Sometimes we succeed, but often we don’t. Form abandonment (users who fail to complete and submit forms before giving up) is an enormous and costly problem. But compared to mobile, the Web is pretty forgiving, because mobile forms—rendered on devices that have small screen sizes and restricted user input—give you, the designer, virtually no leeway for bad design.

So before you design any mobile forms, I highly recommend brushing up on form basics with these resources:

• Web Form Design: Filling in the Blanks (http://amzn.to/1g364lv) by Luke Wroblewski (Rosenfeld Media, 2011)

• Forms on Mobile Devices: Modern Solutions (http://bit.ly/1g369pc) by Luke Wroblewski

• Better Mobile Form Design (http://bit.ly/1g36zvV) by Luke Wroblewski ...