Design of mobile forms

For a long time, we said 'just say NO' to forms on mobiles. In the days of WAP, they were too awful to contemplate.

Now - we agree with Luke Wroblewski. Design for mobile first. It's much easier to make a successful mobile design work as a web form than the other way around.

Good place to start? Try Chui Chui Tan:

• article Mobile Form Design Stategies
• slides from her workshop Web and mobile forms design (Bonus: some parts are presented in both English and Chinese). 

For a shorter summary on designing for mobile in general, including some tips for designing forms, try Shanshan Ma's Designing for the Mobile Web: Special Considerations

For a rant about how bad it can be when it all goes wrong, read about Craig Villamor's experience when trying to sign up for OneNote on his mobile: Microsoft OneNote for iPhone: Your Org Chart is Showing

Text entry is difficult

Whichever type of phone you use, entering text on a mobile device isn't easy. A recent study by Blink looked at typing on four types of mobile devices, and found no real advantage for any of them. Users get familiar with their current device, and prefer its method. Summary of the study: What do Users Think of Mobile Text Entry Methods? (whitepaper report also available from that page; requires entry of name, company, and email address).