Notes on Forms
Welcome to Information Design Unit. A working note on how people fill in what we ask them for.
Welcome to Information Design Unit. We are part of Enterprise IG, the multidisciplinary branding and design agency with 22 offices worldwide.
Every form is a small conversation. It asks a question, waits for an answer, and either accepts the reply or explains what went wrong. When that exchange is clear, people finish in one pass. When it is not, they leave, guess, or call someone for help.
This page collects our current thinking on forms: how labels, fields, groups and messages should work together, and where a form can be simplified without losing information.
Labels sit where the eye already is
A label above its field is read in one movement of the eye, before the hand moves.
Placing the label above the input keeps the question and the answer on one line of reading. It also survives zooming, translation and small screens without breaking the order of the page.
Grouping related questions makes a long form feel shorter than it is.
Address lines, dates and contact details belong in clear groups with a single heading each. A reader who sees the shape of the form can plan the work and stop searching for the next field.
What a clear form does
- Asks one thing per field, in plain words
- Shows which fields are required before the reader starts
- States the expected format next to the field, not only in an error
- Places each error beside the field it describes
- Keeps the reader's entries when a message appears
- Ends with a summary that names the next step
Sorting questions on cards is a quick test of whether the order makes sense.
Before any layout is drawn, we ask people to put the questions in the order they would answer them. Where the sorted order differs from the planned order, the form needs to change.
A draft printed on paper shows the length of a form more honestly than a screen.
Reviewing a printed draft helps us spot repeated questions, unclear labels and fields that could be removed altogether. Each removed field is one less decision for the reader.
Send a form to our team
Use this sample to see how labels, groups and messages work together. Nothing is stored by this page.
Questions about forms
A word such as Required is clearer than a symbol alone. Mark optional fields only when most of the form is required.
Name the problem and the fix in one sentence. Avoid codes and blame. The reader should know what to change without reading anything else.
For wider questions about our approach, see how we think or contact us.