multipage form for 8 form elements?

hi everybody,

i'm designing a web application for a client. i've mocked up a wireframe
prototype that demonstrates one usage scenario of the web app. this
particular scenario involves the user completing a form to upload a file
from the user's machine to the web app's server. this upload form has 8 form
elements:

http://www.javafreelancer.net/soa/upload/index.html

my problem is, my client is suggesting that this 8-element form be split
across 2 or 3 separate pages because he estimates users will be confused by
the over-abundance of 8 form elements on one page. i think this is
ridiculous! i think that making users click through 3 pages will discourage
users from even bothering with using the application.

what is best practice in this kind of scenario? please, can you refer me to
any articles or guidance that justify either of the above approaches? as
long as it is considered acceptable from a usability standpoint, i don't
mind implementing the multi-page form as the client suggests. but 3 pages
for only 8 form elements strikes me as kind of counter-intuitive.

thanks in advance for your help.

cheers,
bebop

In article <40479079$0$24216$cc9e4d1f (AT) news (DOT) dial.pipex.com>,
bebop (AT) saurus (DOT) org enlightened us with...

what is best practice in this kind of scenario? please, can you refer me to
any articles or guidance that justify either of the above approaches? as
long as it is considered acceptable from a usability standpoint, i don't
mind implementing the multi-page form as the client suggests. but 3 pages
for only 8 form elements strikes me as kind of counter-intuitive.

thanks in advance for your help.

I can only tell you that as a user, I'd be not-a-happy-camper with 3
pages to submit one damn form.

But, that might just be me.


--
--
~kaeli~
Shotgun wedding: A case of wife or death.
http://www.ipwebdesign.net/wildAtHeart
http://www.ipwebdesign.net/kaelisSpace

On Thu, 4 Mar 2004 20:24:17 -0000, "bebop" <bebop (AT) saurus (DOT) org> declared
in comp.infosystems.www.authoring.site-design:

3 pages for only 8 form elements strikes me as kind of counter-intuitive.

Like Kaeli, I can only speak from a user's point of view, but 8 fields
in one form is fine. Splitting it across 3 pages would be worse than
useless.

--
Mark Parnell
http://www.clarkecomputers.com.au

On Thu, 4 Mar 2004 20:24:17 -0000, bebop <bebop (AT) saurus (DOT) org> wrote:

my problem is, my client is suggesting that this 8-element form be split
across 2 or 3 separate pages because he estimates users will be confused
by
the over-abundance of 8 form elements on one page.

I'd prefer one page to fill out than 3 pages. Consider the possibility of
server error, connection droppage, you've got 3 times the likelihood this
will screw up the user's experience with a 3-page form. The form you
describe could be done in one page rather well.

bebop said the following on 04/03/2004 20:24:

hi everybody,

i'm designing a web application for a client. i've mocked up a wireframe
prototype that demonstrates one usage scenario of the web app. this
particular scenario involves the user completing a form to upload a file
from the user's machine to the web app's server. this upload form has 8 form
elements:

http://www.javafreelancer.net/soa/upload/index.html

my problem is, my client is suggesting that this 8-element form be split
across 2 or 3 separate pages because he estimates users will be confused by
the over-abundance of 8 form elements on one page. i think this is
ridiculous! i think that making users click through 3 pages will discourage
users from even bothering with using the application.

what is best practice in this kind of scenario? please, can you refer me to
any articles or guidance that justify either of the above approaches? as
long as it is considered acceptable from a usability standpoint, i don't
mind implementing the multi-page form as the client suggests. but 3 pages
for only 8 form elements strikes me as kind of counter-intuitive.

thanks in advance for your help.

cheers,
bebop

It is ridiculous, you're right. You may be suffering from the barking
user syndrome - they forgot they bought a dog and now want to design the
site themself.

I suggest you point out that 3 pages will cause 3 form submissions which
will *triple* (ish) the amount of processing your expensive servers need
to do.



--

John Robin Devany
http://www.devany.com

On Fri, 5 Mar 2004 09:36:12 +1100, Mark Parnell
<webmaster (AT) clarkecomputers (DOT) com.au> wrote:

On Thu, 4 Mar 2004 20:24:17 -0000, "bebop" <bebop (AT) saurus (DOT) org> declared
in comp.infosystems.www.authoring.site-design:

3 pages for only 8 form elements strikes me as kind of counter-intuitive.

Like Kaeli, I can only speak from a user's point of view, but 8 fields
in one form is fine. Splitting it across 3 pages would be worse than
useless.

Agreed. The one exception would be if the answer to (say) the first
question resulted in one of various alternative sets of questions being
presented. But you don't mention this, so I take it that that doesn't
apply here.

--
Stephen Poley

http://www.xs4all.nl/~sbpoley/webmatters/