[Sigia-l] the point-of-whatever-ness

[tOM Trottier]

You have to ask yourself why the person would quit. Boredom? Lost 
connection? Too much work? No reduction of uncertainty? 

I would:

1. provide info/feedback on the form, eg:
     - why certain info is required
     - that info is cross-checked
    - that info will be valuable for the form filler, and/or other 
    people
     - any tentative feedback (eg, max mortgage possible)
    - feedback on how far they are in the process, e.g., by a ballpark 
    progress bar and percentage at the page bottom
    You could provide info/encouragement via sidebars, eg,
    "We provide mortgages from 1 to 12 years in length" 
    "Mortgage money on the way in 7 days or less"
    This will make the person want to continue - it isn't just a chore, 
    but a learning experience with a benefit.

2.  request the most essential info first, and the most essential info 
    is not the person's ID, but their income/outgo figures. That may 
    determine whether they should even bother continuing.

3.  avoid huge pages, or tiny ones. I think about 4-8 questions per 
    page is ideal

Your other idea is great - not asking questions which aren't 
pertinent, based on previous questions. This would require sequencing 
questions effectively, and perhaps asking new questions that will 
determine which further pages to visit or avoid.

tOM

On 22 Jun 2004 at 7:50,
Samantha Bailey <a2slb at bellsouth.net> wrote:

> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Jason" <jason31 at verizon.net>
> Sent: Monday, June 21, 2004 10:25 PM
> 
> > hello,
> >
> > i have recently been building and testing an online mortgage
> > application and have come across an interesting question. Has anyone
> > done any research that identifies the point in a person's filling out a
> > form where they just start filling in the minimum in order to get the
> > thing done? When does someone just start clicking "C, C, C, C, etc." in
> > order to get to the end? It can apply to big long forms or even surveys.
> >
> > There are two aspects that i would love to ponder:
> > 1. Ways to determine the problem - is it based entirely on each
> > individual user? Is there a word for this threshold? Any ways to
> > determine it?
> > 2. Ways to solve it - Any ideas on ways to avoid it?
> >
> > one means by which we are dealing with this very long, multi-page form,
> > is to try to make it as smart as possible. I mean, based on responses
> > to earlier questions, not showing information that is not needed. Like
> > "do you have a co-borrower?" indicating "no" eliminates the need for
> > much of the form so we hide it. Testing has shown this to reduce the
> > "point-of-whatever-ness"
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Jason Pryslak

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