Errors are a fact of life when using almost any type of software. Forms are the worst though. Nothing is more frustrating than filling out a form and getting a robotic message from the computer telling you that you have failed, please click ok to confirm your failure.

使用幾乎所有類型的軟件時，錯誤都是生活的事實。 形式是最糟糕的。 填寫表格并從計算機中收到一條機器人消息，告訴您您已失敗，這讓您感到沮喪，請單擊“確定”確認您的失敗。

為什么存在用戶輸入錯誤 (Why user input errors exist)

Input errors don’t exist to make us feel stupid or ruin our day — even if it feels that way sometimes. They protect databases from incorrectly formatted or malicious data. They are like an immune system for the computer. They are there to protect it from anything that could be harmful.

輸入錯誤不會使我們感到愚蠢或破壞我們的一天，即使有時會感到這種錯誤。 它們可以保護數據庫免受格式錯誤或惡意數據的侵害。 它們就像是計算機的免疫系統。 他們在那里是為了保護它免受可能有害的影響。

But of course, the users on the other side don’t care about this. They just want to get their tasks done and achieve their goals quickly, easily and without any errors.

但是，當然，另一側的用戶對此并不關心。 他們只是想快速，輕松且沒有任何錯誤地完成任務并實現目標。

錯誤對用戶而言是痛苦的 (Errors are painful for users)

Errors aren’t life-threatening, but they are painful to recover from. Instead of watching your users suffer through errors, you can install some guard rails to prevent them from hurting themselves.

錯誤并不會危及生命，但是要從中恢復是很痛苦的。 您可以安裝一些護欄以防止他們受傷，而不用看著用戶因錯誤而受苦。

預防勝于治療 (Prevention is better than the cure)

Rather than trying to find more polite or ‘user-friendly’ ways of telling your users that they are wrong, what if you spent your time preventing their mistakes in the first place?

與其嘗試找到更多禮貌或“用戶友好”的方式來告訴用戶他們是錯誤的方式，不如您首先花費時間防止他們的錯誤該怎么辦？

Welcome to error prevention, the practice of designing things in a way that prevents your users from encountering errors.

歡迎使用錯誤預防，這是一種以防止用戶遇到錯誤的方式設計事物的實踐。

So how can you prevent input errors?

那么如何防止輸入錯誤呢？

• Install invisible guardrails
  安裝隱形護欄
• Collect only the data you need
  僅收集您需要的數據
• Make the system do the heavy lifting for the user
  使系統為用戶帶來沉重的負擔

Let’s dive a little deeper.

讓我們深入一點。

1.安裝隱形護欄 (1. Install invisible guardrails)

Guardrails are safety measures that restrict users from doing things that could result in error messages. If a form is well designed the user shouldn’t even be aware the restrictions exist.

護欄是限制用戶執行可能導致錯誤消息的操作的安全措施。 如果表單設計合理，則用戶甚至都不應該意識到存在限制。

Most input patterns can be used as guardrails. The trick is to use them in a way that restricts the data the user can input to prevent mistakes.

大多數輸入模式都可以用作護欄。 技巧是使用它們來限制用戶可以輸入的數據以防止錯誤。

滑桿 (Sliders)

A slider restricts the minimum and maximum values a user can input. This means the user cannot input a number that is higher or lower than allowed.

滑塊限制用戶可以輸入的最小值和最大值。 這意味著用戶不能輸入高于或低于允許的數字。

踏步機 (Steppers)

Steppers make it easier for the user to increase or decrease a value using the ‘+‘”’ and ‘-’ controls instead of their keyboard. You can user steppers to prevent the user from entering a number that is too high or low.

步進器使用戶可以更輕松地使用“ +””和“-”控件而不是鍵盤來增加或減少值。 您可以使用用戶步進器來防止用戶輸入太大或太小的數字。

單選按鈕，復選框和開關 (Radio buttons, checkboxes and switches)

Radio buttons, switches and checkboxes give the user preset options to choose from. This prevents the user from making choices that aren’t available.

單選按鈕，開關和復選框為用戶提供了預設選項供您選擇。 這樣可以防止用戶做出不可用的選擇。

當心文本輸入字段 (Beware of text input fields)

Text input fields can cause a lot of problems because they have no constraints. They allow the user to input whatever they want, often resulting in errors.

文本輸入字段沒有約束，因此可能導致很多問題。 它們允許用戶輸入所需的任何內容，通常會導致錯誤。

You can’t physically change your desktop or laptop computer’s keyboard to solve this problem, but with touch screens on mobile devices, you can!

您無法通過物理方式改變臺式機或筆記本電腦的鍵盤來解決此問題，但是通過移動設備上的觸摸屏，您可以！

You can use different system keyboard types restrict the type of data the user can input, or even create your own custom keyboards.

您可以使用不同的系統鍵盤類型來限制用戶可以輸入的數據類型，甚至可以創建自己的自定義鍵盤。

2.僅收集您需要的數據 (2. Collect only the data you need)

Most forms ask for more information than is necessary. Sometimes the data is being collected simply because the database ‘requires’ it.

大多數表格要求提供比必要更多的信息。 有時僅由于數據庫“需要”數據而收集數據。

But what is really required?

但是真正需要什么呢？

Unless you legally need to collect the data or it is business critical, investigate why you need it. Sometimes it can be because the person who created the database built it that way and nobody ever changed it.

除非您合法地需要收集數據或它對業務至關重要 ，否則請調查為什么需要它。 有時可能是因為創建數據庫的人以這種方式構建數據庫，卻從未有人更改過它。

Do you really need to know your user’s middle name and last name? Do they even have one? In Indonesia, for example, it’s not common to have a last name. I personally don’t have a middle name, my parents never gave me one.

您是否真的需要知道用戶的中間名和姓氏？ 他們甚至有一個嗎？ 例如，在印度尼西亞，姓氏并不常見。 我個人沒有中間名，我的父母從來沒有給我一個。

Databases make broad assumptions about the world that are often wrong. Challenge those assumptions and simplify your forms by removing as much as you can.

數據庫對世界做出廣泛的假設，而這些假設通常是錯誤的。 挑戰這些假設，并通過盡可能多地刪除來簡化表格。

Don’t collect data if you don’t need it. The more data you collect the more chance for errors.

如果不需要，請不要收集數據。 您收集的數據越多，出錯的機會就越大。

3.讓系統為用戶做繁重的工作 (3. Make the system do the heavy lifting for the user)

Doing the heavy lifting for your users means the system should anticipate and handle potential problems.

為您的用戶完成繁重的工作意味著系統應該預見并處理潛在的問題。

This means knowing what the most common user journeys are and offering helpful suggestions or shortcuts.

這意味著了解最常見的用戶旅程并提供有用的建議或捷徑。

You can do this by using smart defaults, generated names and error correction.

您可以使用智能默認值，生成的名稱和錯誤更正來做到這一點。

智能默認 (Smart defaults)

Smart defaults pre-fill or preselect an option for your user. They are either personalised to the user or the most common use case.

Smart默認為用戶預填充或預選擇一個選項。 它們要么是針對用戶的個性化設置，要么是最常見的用例。

The reason they are so effective at reducing errors is that they prevent forms being submitted with things not filled in. The user doesn’t need to do anything other than review the suggestions and make changes as needed.

它們之所以能夠有效地減少錯誤，是因為它們可以防止提交未填寫內容的表單。用戶除了查看建議并根據需要進行更改外，無需執行其他任何操作。

You could use machine learning here, but optimising your form for the most common use case goes a long way.

您可以在這里使用機器學習，但是針對最常見的用例優化表單要走很長一段路。

For example, when searching for a flight most people choose a return trip you can use geolocation to determine where they are most likely departing from.

例如，大多數人在搜索航班時選擇回程，則可以使用地理位置來確定他們最有可能離開的地方。

When searching for accommodation, the majority of people travel with another person.

在尋找住宿時，大多數人都會和另一個人一起旅行。

These ‘smart’ defaults aren’t very smart and won’t always be right, but making a few educated guesses is much more preferable to forcing everyone to fill in the entire form from scratch.

這些“智能”默認值不是很聰明，也不會總是正確的，但是進行一些有根據的猜測比強迫所有人從頭開始填寫整個表格更為可取。

產生的名字 (Generated names)

When creating a file giving it a name is the only way to recognise and retrieve it later. You are probably familiar with this when you use Google Docs or Microsoft Word.

創建文件時，給它一個名稱是稍后識別和檢索它的唯一方法。 使用Google Docs或Microsoft Word時，您可能對此很熟悉。

What you may not have noticed is that many applications suggest or pre-fill a name for you. Google docs do an excellent job of this by generating the document the title or from the first line.

您可能沒有注意到的是，許多應用程序會為您建議或預填一個名稱。 Google文檔通過生成文檔標題或第一行來做得很好。

You can actually apply this concept to any situation where a user needs to fill in a name. Suggest one for them based on the data you have available.

您實際上可以將此概念應用于用戶需要填寫姓名的任何情況。 根據可用數據為他們建議一個。

結語 (Wrapping it up)

You can’t completely banish errors from your form designs, but thoughtful design decisions that prevent them is much better than trying to make them more user friendly. Prevention is better than the cure.

您不能完全消除表單設計中的錯誤，但是周到的設計決策可以防止錯誤發生，這比嘗試使它們更易于使用要好得多。 預防勝于治療。

Just remember:

只記得：

• Collect only the data you need
  僅收集您需要的數據
• Install guardrails
  安裝護欄
• Make the system do the heavy lifting for the user
  使系統為用戶做些繁重的工作