Examples: Forms report data analysis
You can use the Forms report to identify ways to improve the user experience with forms and form fields on your website.
The following examples show how to use Forms report data.
- High Average Time/High Unloads per Page View
- Review the form for design flaws that are adding time or confusion to the visitors' experience. Some potential design flaws to focus on are unclear requests for information, a form of excessive length, or form fields that are not logically grouped. These items can contribute to visitor frustration, thus increasing the number of unloads. Drill in on form fields for deeper analysis.
- High Percentage of Unload Fields
- Fields that represent the last field before unload are typically problem fields for
customers. Evaluate these fields to determine whether the text that leads up to the field is
unclear to visitors. Review error messages to ensure that messages are helpful and relevant.
Determine whether the field is necessary or if it can be modified or removed to encourage
visitors to submit the form.
Also, observe the fields that have the highest unload percentage, and then note which fields come next in the form. The fields that follow are often the trouble spots. An unload field is the final field that was touched before the form was abandoned. That means that the next field in the form was not touched at all. For example, if a form asks for an address followed by a social security number and many visitors abandon at the social security field, then the address field is the final field touched – the unload field.
Form and Form Field Considerations:
- Consider ways to improve form layout, flow, and supporting text.
- Does the form ask visitors to input the same data multiple times? Consider pre-filling data that a user might have already entered (such as billing and shipping addresses that are the same).
- Is all of the requested information required? Can the information be obtained from different sources? Consider removing fields or use more optional fields for non-required information such as age or gender.
- Consider conducting usability tests to further diagnose issues by observing visitors' experience.
- Look for forms that have high abandonment and then use the Forms Zoom report to focus on the fields within those forms.
- In the Forms Zoom report, focus on the field edited percentage and the unload field percentage. Look for the form fields where the most unloads occur.
- Track important forms (such as registration or key checkout forms) on a weekly basis, using a recurring weekly email for the Form Zoom report data. Daily emails might be too granular, and monthly emails might be delivered too late to resolve unexpected problems that might appear.