15 Top Quotes on User-Friendly Digital Self-Service
Usability can be improved in most online forms and digital self-services. Below is some great advice from top experts in the field on how to make forms truly user-friendly. We collected them from acknowledged sources when we prepared our list of 112 usability guidelines for online forms and our new course on digital self-services.
Form structure
"We’ve consistently found that very simple one-question-per page designs work better for our users than anything more complicated ..." (Caroline Jarrett, 2015)
Headings
"... noun services aren't helpful. We need to turn them into verb services." (Loise Downe, 2015)
Labels
"The space inside the text box is for the user; the space outside the box, for the organization ..." (Caroline Jarrett, 2013)
Text fields
"A form is a document that asks questions and has space for the answers." (Caroline Jarrett, 2000, pdf, 167 kB)
Radio buttons
"If you are considering selecting no radio button by default, think hard about your reasons for doing so." (Kara Pernice, 2014)
Checkboxes
"Use standard visual representations. A checkbox should be a small square that has a checkmark or an X when selected." (Jakob Nielsen, 2004)
Drop-down lists
"... while drop-down lists do have a place in web design, you should always consider whether there’s a more appropriate alternative, ..." (Christian Holst, 2010)
Steppers
"Forms can benefit from stepper controls when users need to edit quantities." (Nick Kellingley)
List boxes
"... the dual nature of list boxes (mutually exclusive single selection or multiple selection) tends to cause problems for many people." (Luke Wroblewski, 2008)
Analogue form elements
"Use a slider only when the precise value won’t matter to the user, but rather only the approximate range." (Aurora Bedford, 2015)
Buttons
"Links are primary used to 'go somewhere.' [...] Buttons are primarily used to 'do something' on a website." (Randall Knutson, 2011)
Mandatory/optional
"Literally including the phrase 'optional' after a label is much clearer than any visual symbol you could use to mean the same thing." (Luke Wroblewski, 2008, p. 78)
Defaults
"Defaults help users in many ways." (Jakob Nielsen, 2008)
Help text
"The main thing you need to know about instructions is that no one is going to read them ..." (Steve Krug, 2014)
Error messages
"The very worst error messages are those that don't exist." (Jakob Nielsen, 2001)
Success messages
"Think of success messages as just that — a way to let people know they accomplished their goal." (Luke Wroblewski, 2008, p. 133)
Learn more
- 112 guidelines for digital self-services and online forms (in Danish)
- 2-day course in Copenhagen: Digital selvbetjening (in Danish)
