Introduction
Nice intro bit: The Florida election of 2000 is a famous case of the consequences of bad form design - the "butterfly ballot" confused voters, caused quite a scandal, and may have resulted in the wrong person being appointed President of the United States.
The author defines a "form" as an instrument that gathers information from a person. This book is focused on the design of the Web form (not the technology) for the online medium with an eye toward making forms easier to use.
Basic definition: a form is a Web page that provides the user with the ability to enter information.
Key concepts
- Relationship - between the organization that is asking the questions and the person who is answering them
- Conversation - the questions that are asked, the instructions that are provided
- Appearance - the way that the form looks