Online forms and user control

To complete many online processes, such as booking a flight or buying insurance, people need to work through forms. Each field poses a potential barrier to progress and can force users to either quit or transfer to a higher cost channel, such as the phone. All form fields are not equal though, and some require much greater thought than others.

One of the best examples of a tricky question is one that requires you to estimate a number. For instance, many car insurance quote forms ask for an average annual mileage. This is difficult for people to give a definite answer to because they need to calculate it and even then, the margin for error is relatively high. An extra 0.5 miles a day will increase the mileage by almost 200 miles a year.

Admiral handles this field in a typical fashion; drivers are asked to give their mileage to the nearest 1,000 miles. Clicking on the question mark icon brings up a window that simply gives you an example calculation, nothing more.

Customers now have to use another calculator, either physical or elsewhere on their computer, to work out this figure.

Moneysupermarket.com has a better approach to this field. Two clear links nearby bring up a calculator that allows you to input weekday, weekend and other mileage. The result can then be placed straight back into the form. This makes for a more accurate estimate and reduces the effort required by customers.

Text below the total also states that the mileage will be rounded up to the nearest 1,000 miles, indicating the required accuracy.

Any field that requires unnecessary work reduces the likelihood of people completing the form. For many businesses, the potential loss of sales from such issues can run into millions of pounds. Conversely, by ensuring that customers are fully supported through the form filling process, sales can be won from competitors whose user experience forces potential customers to look elsewhere.

20/12/10 Tony Allen said:

It's surprising how many online quotation systems don't educate their users on the importance of average mileage in a quote. Most people pluck 10,000 out of the air and stick to it when in reality they probably do half that. Those sites that educate are going to provide more accurate pricing and in turn increase sales due to better quotes - hurrah!