Why Does Submitting a Form Require Two Steps?
Many form processors let visitors submit a form in only one step: users fill in the form, and are done after pressing the submit button. With FormSmarts, there is an extra confirmation step, during which users are invited to review and confirm the information submitted. There are two strong reasons why we added the confirmation step.
The first reason is quality. FormSmarts is typically used for transaction where the information submitted is important. Important because the information collected is intended to be read by humans, rather than machines. Important because this information is often intended to be acted upon.
By allowing users to review and modify their submission, we increase the accuracy of the information you get in the end.
Form users understand that, and it increases their confidence that you value the information they are sending you. Most of times, confirmation will only add a few seconds to the whole transaction.
The second reason is security and usability. Many form submissions are automated, or even manual spamming attempts, known as form spam or comment spam.
When a user presses the submit button, a lot more happens on the server than you may suspect. If we spot a likely spamming attempt, we’ll ask the user to complete one or more tests (e.g. CAPTCHA test) on the confirmation page. But in the same time, the bulk of users will never be asked to waste time on a CAPTCHA test.
Based on years of experience, we have no evidence of users thinking they are done after the first step and not completing the form submission.
Posted by FormSmarts on
Apr 23, 2008 at 9:59 am in form handler.
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Tags: captcha, form handler, form spam, form submission, usability
2 Responses to “Why Does Submitting a Form Require Two Steps?”
Is there an option to disable the two step form for my site? Is there perhaps a flag in the embedded URL?
Noam, there is currently no way to disable the second step because in almost 10 years of operation with two steps, we have no evidence of users missing the second step and not submitting the form as a result. If we had any evidence of this, we would make the second step optional.
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