The client was adamant that, in cases where forms were spread over two columns, they should follow their traditional standard of left-to-right input sequencing regardless of the content of the form. This made for some confusing forms, especially when entering addresses or full names (including middle names).
Finding The Best Route
I needed to provide some evidence of why their current approach was not necessarily the correct way for them to build their forms, so I carried out several tests: one guerrilla-style sort test where participants were asked to add specific data into unmarked form fields, and two preference tests conducted online where participants were asked to express a preference for either vertical or horizontal flow and vertical or horizontal grouping.
Making The Recommendation
Once the results were in, it was easy to see that they showed a strong preference for vertical ordering, although this doesn’t always make sense – especially with forms as complex as those required for HSBCnet. With this in mind, I set out guidelines for the construction of forms that made use of vertical flows and grouping but were limited to discrete sections to help contain the length of the form pages.
