Proximity—If two things are close together in proximity, we associate them with each other. Things farther away are considered separate.
Organization— Easy to understand, appropriate use of space (negative and positive), little ambiguity, but also taking into consideration aesthetics.
Hierarchy— Logical ordering of information- from most important to least important.
Example of bad practice: Employment Applications often ask you to fill out information in boxes with the instructions ("name" or "social security") either on top of the box or underneath it. I have been a victim of writing the information in the wrong boxes because of the ambiguity of the form. So frustrating. Here's an example:
Comments
I hate filling out these
Submitted by jess405 on
I hate filling out these types of forms mainly because, as you said, I put the wrong information in the wrong box. The proximity of the lines and boxes in this form make it difficult to tell what information goes in what box.
Good example
Submitted by will63 on
I also have been a victim of those type of poorly designed forms. I think the form the proximity of the subject field and the write-in box need to be closer. Shading could also be used to make it easier to differentiate which field to write in.
YES totally have done this as
Submitted by arodge3 on
YES totally have done this as well. It is so confusing as to which line to write on!
Reading Response
Submitted by Sdb13 on
I agree with you the form is misleading with instructions on where to fill out your information. It is too close together and one could easily get confused when filling out the form.
same problem
Submitted by jakapla on
I completely agree, the ambiguity of forms can confuse an individual in writing in the wrong box on a form. A mistake of writing somewhere your not could have negative consequences. Creators need to be aware of the forms they create and how they are communicated in the perspective of the user.