Consistency

The principle of consistency states that a form design is easier to learn and use if similar objects are expressed in similar ways.

Your forms will look more professional and be easier to understand if you consistently execute your design decisions throughout your forms. If your design elements are consistent, your users will be able to easily transfer knowledge from one part of the form to another. This will free them up to concentrate on the information they are providing.

Think about traffic signs when you design your forms. The traffic signs illustrated in Figure 8 are visually and functionally consistent. These are two important concepts for form design.

Figure 8. Visually and functionally consistent traffic signs

Visually consistent

Stop signs are visually consistent. They are octagonal in shape, red in color, and use a bold, sans-serif typeface with all capital letters. This visual consistency makes it easy for us to recognize this symbol quickly and it enables us to concentrate on our driving. Unfortunately, the behavior of traffic lights does vary around the world, and this variability can cause confusion or be distracting when traveling abroad.

Functionally consistent

Stop lights are visually and functionally consistent. They feature consistent colors to represent different states (green means "go," red means "stop"). They are also functionally consistent, and they offer a valuable yellow warning light to tell you that they are about to change states from go to stop.

Your interactive form design should follow these excellent examples and strive for visual and functional consistency.

Analyzing a form design for consistency

I like to think about the old Dire Straits lyric when I am reviewing a form design: "Two men say they're Jesus, one of them must be wrong." Regardless of your spiritual beliefs, you can appreciate the clear logic of this lyric. The principle of consistency states that if you have two different ways of handling a form element, one of them must be wrong. Consider how the form illustrated in Figure 9 is unnecessarily inconsistent.

1. The text size for the permanent address field is 12 points, while all of the other text fields have 10-point text.
2. The font for the middle name is Times New Roman while all of the other text fields feature the Frutiger font.
3. The date format for the Expiration Date does not match the date format used in the Date of Birth field.
4. The "About the Owner" bar is not visually consistent with the "About the Proposed Insured" bar.
5. The e-mail address shows the data formatting advice in the message box and the phone numbers show the data formatting advice directly on the form.

Figure 9. Inconsistencies reducing a form's usability and quality

Once your user has learned how your form looks and behaves, be happy! Don't change the rules in the middle of the game. Make your design decisions and then consistently apply them to your forms.

Custom object libraries

LiveCycle Designer helps you maintain consistency with your form objects by supporting the creation of custom objects. You can create the most perfect interface object with just the right font and functionality, and save it for reuse on any LiveCycle form.

The following information is from the Adobe LiveCycle Help System. You can find more information about custom objects in the following section of the Help System:

Using LiveCycle Designer > Working with Objects > Using objects > Using custom objects

To create a custom object

Creating a custom object involves adding one or more objects from the Standard tab to the form design and then defining the properties of the objects to suit your requirements.

You can save the object in the Custom category of the Library palette, or you can create your own category in the Library palette and save the object there. Creating your own Library categories is a good way to organize the custom objects that you create and keep them separate from the predefined custom objects provided with LiveCycle Designer:

1. In the Library palette, drag the object that you want to customize onto the form design.
2. Define the properties of the object.
3. In the Library palette, click the Custom category.
4. Drag your object to the Custom category in the Library palette.
5. In the Add Library Object dialog box, type a name and description for the custom object, and click OK.

Multiple objects can be saved as a single custom object. When you drag multiple objects to the Custom tab together, a single object is created in the Custom tab.

Where to go from here

Simplicity and consistency are two very important principles for effective form design. It has been a pleasure getting to know some of you through this Form Design series. Design is extremely challenging, exciting, and interesting. It is sometimes difficult. As you go forward in Form Design, always remember what the legendary designer Paul Rand said about design:

"Design is so simple, that's why it is so complicated."

Please feel free to e-mail me with your thoughts at jp@smartdoctech.com.

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