Effective Form Submission: Enable or Disable? Choosing the Best Approach for UX

Enable or Disable? Choosing the Best Approach for UX

In the realm of user experience (UX) design, one common dilemma that designers often face is whether to enable or disable form submission buttons until all required fields are filled. This decision can significantly impact the overall user experience and efficiency of form completion. So, let’s dive into this topic and figure out the best approach!

Many things affect this choice, but let me quickly share from my experience designing submit forms:

Simple forms

1. For simple forms, like a login page with just 1 or 2 fields, both enabling or disabling the button work fine. Disabling the button can be done because users quickly understand which fields they need to fill, so the button becomes active, and they can submit the form.
2. For forms with lots of fields, it’s best to avoid disabling the button, especially if some fields are required and some are optional. If the button is disabled, users might get frustrated figuring out which fields they need to fill to make the button work again. Enabling the button is better here because if users fill in some required fields and then press submit, we can easily show them which required fields they still need to fill in by displaying error messages.

Of course, that’s a brief approach you can apply when designing submit forms.

However, choosing between two approaches for error handling in submit forms depends on several factors, including user experience (UX), form complexity, and context of use. Here’s an analysis of both approaches:

Button Submit Disable

• Advantages:
  Instructional: It teaches users that there’s incomplete information without them needing to try and fail. For short forms, this can reduce frustration from failed attempts.
  Efficiency: Some errors caused by submitting empty data can be easily avoided, so there’s no need for a lot of error information until all data is filled in.
• Disadvantages:
  Lack of Immediate Information: Users may not immediately know which fields still need to be filled until they try to figure out why the button isn’t active.
  Accessibility Issues: Sometimes, users with special needs might struggle to understand why the submit button isn’t active if there are no additional instructions.
  Potential Frustration: If there are many submit forms, users will find it difficult to analyze when the button is still disabled, and there are no errors displayed. Users have to check each form one by one, leading to frustration.

Button Always Enable

• Advantages:
  Immediate Information: Users get immediate feedback after trying to submit, with error messages showing which fields need to be corrected.
  Motivation: Users might feel more motivated to fill out the form completely because they know they can try to submit anytime.
• Disadvantages:
  Potential Frustration: Users might feel frustrated if they have to click submit only to find errors. Especially if they’re not informed before clicking submit.
  Delay: If the form is long, users might find it bothersome with error messages appearing one by one. However, this is better than having no error information at all like when using the disable button.

Recommendation

Hybrid Approach: Combining the strengths of both approaches often provides the best experience. Here are some ways to implement the hybrid approach:

• Button Disabled with Inline Validation:
  The submit button remains disabled until all required fields are filled.
  Display error messages or indicators directly (inline) when users leave required fields empty or fill them with invalid data.
  Inform users why the submit button is inactive with tooltips or informational messages.
• Button Enabled with Real-Time Validation:
  The submit button is always active, but real-time validation is used to provide immediate feedback as users fill out the form.
  Display error messages immediately after a field loses focus (onBlur) if the required field is empty or contains invalid data.
  When users click submit, highlight and scroll to the section of the form that needs to be corrected if there are errors.

Conclusion

It’s perfectly fine to go with the button enable method in most cases. However, when using the button disable option, it’s important to do so judiciously, ideally for shorter forms. The hybrid approach usually offers a smoother user experience by providing prompt feedback and guiding users through form completion more effectively. Nonetheless, the ultimate decision should always be based on the specific context of the form and the needs of the target users.