Digital Boomerang Singapore 

Most sites put up a registration form and expect the users to plough through it.

Many times, users find it cumbersome to fill up lengthy forms. So how can you make it less painful?

1. Cut down the number of fields

When users see a long form, they get turned off. You really don’t want them to head to bugmenot.com for handy IDs and passwords. Try and keep the data collection to the minimum necessary. A form with 5-6 fields is reasonable.

2. Collect information gradually

Run contests or just send emails to ask users to update their information. In this exercise, you can include new fields (e.g. demographic or psychographic fields) previously not required in the registration stage.

3. Consider providing online help

If your form is complicated or you find that users abandon the registration process, an online customer service can help. There are many applications that will allow you to add a “online help” button on your website. When the user clicks on this button, he/she is connected to a customer service officer and they can begin to chat online. LivePerson.com is a commercial service you can use. If you need an open source solution, try Crafty Syntax.

4. Mark required fields clearly

Nothing is more annoying than clicking on submit, and realising that you left out some required field. Mark these fields out clearly. A red colour asterisk is the common practice.

5. Use clear error messages

If the form cannot be submitted, make sure your error messages explain these clearly. For instance, you can spell out “This userID has already been taken” or “Your password is too short, please use a password that is at least 6 characters long.” Use a different font colour for your error messages so that it stands out.

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