In a world where attention spans are shorter than a TikTok clip, getting people to actually complete your online forms can feel like a battle. Whether you’re collecting customer feedback, running a market survey, or sorting through applications, online forms make life easier—when people fill them out.
Want to boost engagement and get more responses? Time to tap into a little human psychology. Here’s how to design and distribute your forms in a way that makes hitting “Submit” feel effortless. Let’s break it down!
Psychology-backed strategies to design better online forms:
- 1. Keep forms simple: The cognitive load theory
- 2. Personalize the experience: Fogg behavior model
- 3. Give instant feedback: Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory
- 4. Optimize for mobile: The least effort principle
- 5. Ensure accessibility: Barrier theory
- 6. Choose the right distribution channels: social influence theory
- Conclusion
1. Keep forms simple: The cognitive load theory
Ever opened a form, saw a wall of questions, and thought, Nope, not today? That’s cognitive load theory in action. Our brains can only handle so much information at once—overload them, and people will either make mistakes or quit altogether.
In a famous study, shoppers faced with 24 jam flavors were intrigued but rarely bought, while those given just 6 options were 10 times more likely to purchase—proof that too many choices overwhelm the brain, just like cluttered online forms lead to drop-offs.
How to fix it:
Say you’ve got a survey with 30 questions. If users see them all at once, they might bail before answering a single one. Instead, break your form into smaller, bite-sized sections. This keeps users engaged and reduces overwhelm.
How PlatoForms applies:
- Multi-step forms: Convert long forms into step-by-step sections to make them easier to digest.
- Progress bars: Show users how far they’ve come and how much is left, so they stay motivated to finish.
- Prefilled forms: Reduce effort by preloading known data, so users don’t have to re-enter the same info over and over.
Read more: How to pre-fill data in a form before sending it out
Pro Tip:
- Keep your questions short and clear—no one wants to decipher a puzzle while filling out a form.
- Group similar questions together so the flow feels natural.
A simple form is a completed form—make it easy, and users will stick around!
2. Personalize the experience: Fogg behavior model
The Fogg Behavior Model is all about making things easy for people to take action when their motivation is high. A great example? Facebook.
In the beginning, Facebook made it super easy for people to share posts and pictures. The simpler it was to do, the more people wanted to do it. The big, shiny “Share” button was hard to miss, which lowered the effort it took to share something and made people want to share even more, helping Facebook grow like crazy.
A company once tested sending out personalized emails, and guess what? Adding just the customer’s name made a huge difference—open rates and clicks went up. But when they took it a step further and recommended products based on what the customer had bought before, conversions went up by 70%! This proved the Fogg Behavior Model in action: people are more likely to act when it’s easy and feels relevant to them.
How PlatoForms applies:
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Dynamic forms: Show only the questions that matter to the user based on their previous answers. Less clutter, more focus!
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Customized email content: Personalize the emails users receive after completing a form. By customizing the email subject and body with dynamic variables (like the form name, user’s name, or specific responses), you make the communication feel more relevant and engaging. This reduces cognitive overload, keeps users motivated, and boosts form completion rates.
By keeping forms simple, personalized, and easy to fill out, you’ll keep users engaged and get more submissions!
3. Give instant feedback: Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory
Instant feedback is a game-changer. Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory tells us that people get satisfaction from two things: motivators (like recognition and achievements) and hygiene factors (like basic expectations). When it comes to forms, giving feedback instantly works as a motivator, letting users know they’re appreciated and making them want to engage again.
So, imagine someone submits a contact form. Instead of just leaving them hanging, throw up a quick message like, “Thanks for reaching out! We’ll be in touch soon.” It’s a simple way to let them know they’ve done something worthwhile and that they’re not just a name in a system.
How PlatoForms applies:
- Instant acknowledgment: Pop up a thank-you message or confirmation page right after the form is submitted. It’s a small gesture but goes a long way in showing appreciation.
- Follow-up email: Send a confirmation email so users know their submission was received and they’re good to go.
With instant feedback, you’re making users feel valued and encouraging them to come back for more—pretty much like a freebie for making them feel awesome!
4. Optimize for mobile: The least effort principle
People are all about the easy route—if something feels too hard, they’re out. If your form’s a pain to navigate on a mobile device, your users will bail, especially if they have to zoom, scroll endlessly, or deal with tiny buttons that make them want to throw their phone out the window.
Imagine filling out a form on your phone where you have to zoom in on every question or squint at tiny text. Not fun, right? Using a form builder that auto-adjusts for mobile makes everything a breeze. Fields are easy to tap, and the text is clear, so users can breeze through the form even when they’re on the go.
How PlatoForms applies:
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Go mobile-responsive: With PlatoForms, your forms automatically adapt to different screen sizes. No need for pinch-zooming! Whether on a phone, tablet, or desktop, your form will look great and be easy to fill out.
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Instant preview: Before hitting publish, use PlatoForms’ instant preview feature to test your form. The instant preview pops up immediately, so you can see your changes without waiting for a new window to load. You can even toggle form validation, preview specific pages in multi-page forms, and fine-tune the user experience with quick validation testing. Make sure everything’s seamless and ready for any screen!
With PlatoForms, testing is a breeze—helping you build forms that look great and work perfectly, no matter where they’re viewed!
5. Ensure accessibility: Barrier theory
People give up when they hit roadblocks. If a form is hard to navigate—whether due to unclear labels or fields that aren’t keyboard-friendly—users are more likely to bounce. Accessibility barriers, like these, are obstacles that make completing tasks difficult, especially for people with disabilities.
Imagine someone with a visual impairment trying to complete a form where the fields are not labeled properly or incompatible with a screen reader. It’s a dealbreaker! But with an online form builder like PlatoForms, you can ensure clear field labels and screen reader compatibility, making the form accessible for everyone.
Read more: 3 Reasons for Form Abandonment and 6 Steps to Bring Users Back
How PlatoForms applies:
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Descriptive help text: PlatoForms makes it easy to create clear, descriptive help text for every form field, ensuring users know exactly what information is required. No confusion, just clarity!
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Multilingual forms: With PlatoForms, you can create forms in multiple languages, so users from all different backgrounds can fill them out easily—no language barriers!
6. Choose the right distribution channels: social influence theory
Humans are basically sheep. (But in a good way, we promise.)
Ever watched a Netflix show just because your friend wouldn’t stop talking about it? Forms work the same way. People follow the crowd—if they see their friends or coworkers filling out your form, they’re more likely to join in.
Picture this: You’re sending out a survey for your new product. If people see their friends filling it out, they’ll think, “Everyone’s doing it, I should too!” Whether you share it on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or via email, tapping into social networks can boost your response rate.
That’s social proof in action—if it’s good enough for their friends, it’s good enough for them!
How PlatoForms applies:
You can seamlessly share your forms in more ways than ever. Whether it’s through a Public URL, Embed Script, or QR Code, PlatoForms lets you get your form into the hands of your audience—however they prefer. No more hassle, just simple sharing.
And while we’re talking simple, we’ve made sure the whole process stays connected. You can pre-fill forms with known information, reducing unnecessary effort for your users.
Check out the latest updates from our team, including smoother embedding options and quicker form-sharing capabilities. Let’s make your forms as easy as clicking “send”.
Conclusion
Designing and distributing online forms isn’t just about making them look good—it’s about understanding how people behave and using that knowledge to make forms easier, more engaging, and ultimately more effective. By applying simple human behavior principles like keeping forms simple, personalizing experiences, providing instant feedback, and optimizing for mobile, you can create forms that people actually want to fill out. With the right tools and a bit of behavioral insight, you’ll see your form completion rates soar!
