Web Form Design - Cover

Designing web forms is no small topic, and this book on the subject is deceptively slim. However, once you get into it, you will find it is a trove of guidelines for making usable forms. The main focus is on enhancing the usability of a form, not so much the accessibility or implementation issues. This book is about the design and layout of forms.

Through the book, the author covers quite a few aspects of form design, from the type of elements used to the positioning of text labels for the connected elements. Time is spent on how a user should be prompted for information, as well as what kind of feedback should be given along the way (success messages, error messages, etc). Attention was also given to how actions (such as submit or reset buttons) should be presented to the user.

Some content that I particularly liked was examining how to present groupings of related, yet exclusive elements. This is an issue I have struggled with in the past. This book presents a number of options, and provides the pros and cons of each. I have a particular project that is still in motion with this issue present, so I will certainly be making use of that chapter of the book.

As mentioned earlier, this book is essentially about the layout of forms, and how they can be set up to be easily utilized by the user. There are no implementation details covered here, nor are accessibility concerns mentioned. That is fine, as the book is focused on form design.

Given all the discussion of the layout issues, it could have been useful to see some code and styles to tie the theory to some practical examples. Then again, what with having to consider different ways of achieving the same layout, not to mention browser inconsistencies, that would have resulted in a much larger book. It is probably better that this book is smaller and more focused on the design issues than the implementation.

The author gives clear reasoning for the statements he makes, and uses simple language to get the point across. Some of the points are be subjective, and he even hits on this as well, since every project and audience has different needs.

Overall, this book is an easy read, and despite its slim size, contains much useful guidance. It is worth reviewing whenever you are working on a web site or application with any number of forms. The advice given is worth the time to read it, whenever needed.

As an additional note, you can buy the book most anywhere online. However, if you order directly from the publisher, you can receive the DRM-free PDF version of the book at no extra charge. This is an excellent initiative from the publisher, and I appreciated having that option.