Organize fields thoughtfully on each screen
Guided interviews aren't constrained by the length of a piece of paper. But you need to apply your own restraint to make sure that questions are asked at a pace that your user can answer easily.
Screen breaks can act as a signpost that tells the user that you have finished one topic and are ready to move on to another.
First, organize fields into topics​
Before you work on a screen, follow the guidance about structuring your interview to make sure your fields are grouped into logical topics.
Ask the most restrictive questions on the screen first​
If a response to an early question rules out the need to ask a follow-up, ask it first. There are few things more annoying than answering a question, scrolling down, and then seeing you need to re-write your answer to the first question because you included an answer that was supposed to come later.
Consider adding in your own "ruling out" questions to make the rest of a screen easier to answer or to allow removing complicated instructions. They don't need to exist on the form.
How old is John?
- I don't know when John was born
- Birthdate ______________________
- Best estimate of age (in years) _________________
Ask for only a few fields on each screen​
A good rule of thumb is to ask for no more than about 5 pieces of information on each screen. Users seldom mind answering a lot of simple questions one screen at a time. A long screen that requires scrolling from the heading or instructions to each fill-in field can slow your user down more than clicking the "next" button.
This is a suggestion, not a rule. Sometimes, it may be more confusing to the user to split the information into multiple screens than to see a list of 6 or 7 fields on one screen. This may be true especially when you are asking the user for a single piece of information, like their address, but ask them to provide it in multiple fields, like street address, postal code, and city.
Where possible, ask short follow-up questions on the same screen​
Use a field on the same screen to ask your user for follow-up information when:
- the field is short
- it relates directly to the answer the user just provided
Example:
- Are you married?
- What is your spouse's name?
Keeping the follow-up question on the same screen gives the user context.