Web Form Design: Filling in the Blanks

And "research-based" doesn't mean "clunky." Luke's writing is clear, elegant, and easy to follow—just like the forms you'll design by following his advice. If creating forms that work is in any way important to you, there's another title you should get: Caroline Jarrett's and Gerry Gaffney's Forms that Work. Caroline and Gerry cover paper forms, too, but much of what Luke and they both cover is relevant in both settings. With those two books in hand or on your tablet, you'll have all the information that matters about form design. And if you're wondering whether you design forms, ask yourself this: "Does my website have an input field on it?" The same answer fits both questions. (I'm guessing it's "Yes!")

I am working on the display for a large form, so I picked this book up. It was good to see everything written down, finally. Most of us know how we "feel" about form elements but we don't have any proof to back up our feelings. This book contains lots of studies to prove and disprove opinions, and that's a great thing. There are also lots of examples of form components, and they gave me lots of good ideas for my current project as well as for future projects. It made it easy to put together a specifications document for a designer to complete that will describe all of the components of my project's form (things like how field groups are displayed and concerns about making sure a form isn't submitted twice). This book would be good for a beginner because it would make someone think about new concepts. It's also good for someone who has developed and designed many, many forms because it helps you break out of old patterns and see things in a new, more structured way. The many examples of form component testing are also great things to show a boss or coworker who may be holding on to opinions without proof. This book may be a bit overpriced for what you get, though. Its pages are thick and glossy, giving you the initial impression that it contains more content than it actually does. However, there aren't many books that address form design. I'm glad I picked it up, but if you're down to your last dime you might be disappointed after spending the money. It doesn't really go into much detail for each component or concept, but it was enough for me. If you are new to form design, you may want to couple this book with other books that detail general Web design or sales approaches that work for the Web. In other words, this book may not be enough for some people but I enjoyed it.

Must-read position for every web/app designer. Not only as a best practice bible but also an inspiration why form/s design is so important.

I didn't buy this book because I wanted to learn more on web form design. I knew the insights in the book were based on actual user studies and not just subjective experience of the author alone, so I was more interested in the data behind the insights. Unfortunately the book didn't match my expectations because I would've liked to see more findings based on testing, studies conducted by others and literature in general. What I wanted to see was a more "scientific" book and not just another web design book. Don't get me wrong though. The book is great if you just want to learn how to design basic forms with basic HTML user interface widgets for websites. Web application interfaces are out of scope of this book. I recommend this title for those that are relatively new to the user interface design side of web forms or need to freshen up their knowledge. I think the book could also be a good tool to back up your design decisions in the face of an opposition resisting to reconsider a bad design of a particular form. It should also be remembered that good UI design alone does not guarantee that the form will be accessible and usable for all. A lot of work needs to be done under the hood starting from the HTML markup. If I remember right, the book Web Accessibility: Web Standards and Regulatory Compliance , has a great chapter on building the HTML right!

This is a staple that belongs in the professional library of anyone who creates web sites and/or web applications containing forms. A very quick read with good examples and references to studies. Don't let the publication date put you off (2008). The principles covered in the book are still relevant today. Although I certainly wouldn't complain if Luke put out a second edition.

Really great book. A must read for any UX designer. I like his writing style which is approachable and direct. I ended up taking quite a few notes and have already implemented his research into my work.

I'm about 4/5ths of the way through this book and I've enjoyed reading so far. The information is targeted at designers with intermediate experience. If you've been reading A List Apart since 2001 you'll probably feel like you've heard a lot of this book's content already. However, having it collected in one place has a lot of added value. One thing I feel is missing is the code examples for all* the "best practice" form designs. I understand this isn't the intention of the book, but code examples are usually given on web design blogs. *Some code examples are given in the end of the book--I haven't gotten to them yet--but they couldn't cover ALL the designs.

If you're responsible for creating web experiences, this is a must-have reference. I must reference this book at least once a month, if not more. If you create web forms, and haven't read this book, your forms are probably all wrong. :-)

The author lists a wide range of topics and treats them with pedagogic care. There are plenty of examples. The book can be a bit lengthy in the discussion here and there, and some topics are missing such as accessibility and multimodality. Also, the book needs to be updated with regard to HTML5 pretty soon. Other than that, I am very satisfied.

I sort of think this book is amazing. Whilst you can probably get all the information inside it online with a bit of googling, it's nicely bound together here and presented in a logic walk through of the subject matter. I still hate making forms but there's not really any way around it, so it's very useful to have a guide

It is a good book. Read it if you are a beginner with web form designs.

Condition of book was worse than expected and described in item overview. Book price could be smaller due to condition.

It may seem mundane to read about label positions or button styles, but the fact is - we all read and use these most primitive objects in our design and day to day life. This book gets right to the point on how best to put together forms that are easily understandable and efficient. I really enjoyed this book.