This content originally appeared on Adam Silver and was authored by Adam Silver
Last week I posted this on LinkedIn:
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“Is a multi-column form layout good UX?”
No.
So why do designers do it?
Because they want to avoid scrolling and fill up the whitespace (they think it looks better).
But this isn’t for users. It’s for them.
In reality multi-column form layouts:
- are prone to error
- are slower to use
- can cause abandonment
But most importantly, completely unnecessary.
To give users a clear path through the form, put each field on a line of its own.
Boring UX = Good UX
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Many people agreed, but many didn’t.
Here’s what some of the latter said (and some quick responses):
“Surely we can put first and last name inputs on the same line?”
Why do you want to? What problem did you observe from having them on separate lines?
“It’s a terrible use of space on my 27 inch display”
Not in my experience. I’ve not seen one user struggle with this.
“Why does your illustration use 6 inputs on the left and only 4 on the right? This is design advice for Dribbble.”
Fair point.
“Having to scroll a really long form is bad UX”
I agree. I never said you should use really long forms. I said to avoid multi-column form layouts.
“This cannot be a rule, it depends on context. Enterprise apps benefit from multi-column layouts.”
It can be a rule.
It is a rule.
And even if there are exceptions to the rule, it’s still a rule.
But let’s talk exceptions:
I’ve designed 100s of form flows within all sorts of digital products, services and websites including complex ‘enterprise apps’ used by internal users that are responsible for managing millions of claims per year.
I’ve observed 100s of usability tests. I’ve watched users perform their tasks for real while they work in call centres.
And not once have I observed a problem due to single column forms. I have however observed problems with multi-column forms.
My post wasn’t clickbait.
It wasn’t my opinion.
It was based on reality.
I mean seriously, if multi-column form layouts provided the best UX, that’s what you’d hear me shout about.
But they don’t, so you won’t.
Might there be an actual exception to the rule?
Yes.
But every time a designer tells me about their so-called exception, after just a bit of scrutiny it falls apart.
Here’s an example (which I’ve edited for brevity):
I work on an enterprise app. When we changed to a single column form layout our users howled “Great, now when I need to take a screenshot of the information I have to scroll down multiple times to take 4 screenshots.”
The back story is that their users need to share information with people who don’t have access to the system. So they take screenshots as a workaround.
I’m currently writing this on Google Docs. And I’m about to send this to a friend for a review.
To take a single screenshot of the whole post you’d need to:
- Condense into one huge paragraph
- Reduce font size from 14px to 8px
- Increase document width to 100%
But that would be a nightmare for both me and my friend.
You could use Cleanshot X to take a scrolling screenshot, but my friend wouldn’t be able to comment on the post easily. And once you make edits you’d have to take another screenshot etc.
Not good either.
Instead I’ll click ‘Share’ so my friend can access and comment on the doc directly.
That’s good UX.
Now to be fair, the designer knew that taking screenshots isn’t an ideal way to solve the problem. But her stakeholders didn’t want to prioritise the work.
So to stop their users howling, they stuck with multi-column forms.
I get it.
This is a reality for many designers. I’ve been in similar positions before and I’m sure I’ll be in similar positions again.
But that doesn’t make bad design good design.
The purpose of a form is not so users can take a screenshot.
The purpose of a form is so users can fill it out as quickly as possible.
If you try to solve all the problems at once, you solve all of them badly.
Here you end up with a form that’s harder to fill out and a sharing mechanism that’s full of pitfalls.
This is why you can’t just listen to what users say i.e. ‘single column layouts make it hard for me to take screenshots’.
You have to understand what they mean i.e. ‘I need to share this information’.
If you work on enterprise form flows and would like to eliminate friction using patterns that are a result of ignoring what users say (but address what they actually mean):
This content originally appeared on Adam Silver and was authored by Adam Silver
Adam Silver | Sciencx (2025-02-03T00:00:00+00:00) Are there exceptions to the ‘avoid multi-column forms’ rule?. Retrieved from https://www.scien.cx/2025/02/03/are-there-exceptions-to-the-avoid-multi-column-forms-rule/
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