There are many new trends I would like to see adopted on the web. So many things on the web can be simplified down to instinct. I wrote a week or so ago about the need to create something that is so usable that it takes no knowledge to use it…like an escalator. I’ve been trying to think since then what satisfies my requirements. And it just sprung on me.

One of the most widely used components a user interacts with on the web is forms. And forms are in dire need of an overhaul. Most forms are designed wrong, meaning non intuitive and/or ugly. There are many, many problems with forms today but that can be a topic of another post. Anyway, forms need to be simplified. Although I have discontinued my use of Odeo, they have done a magnificent job with their redesigned registration form.

In instances where forms have single functions, such as submit, the following functionality is perfect. By now users are trained to hit the enter key on their keyboard when searching Google. So why do we need submit and clear buttons? The answer is we do not.

I have only seen this on Google Talk and iTunes, but I think it’s a remarkable simplification idea in the area of web form usability. Basically they have no buttons and rely on the user’s intuition to click enter. Google talk has no ’send message’ button, but they also have gotten rid of this when searching in Google Talk. See the image below:

When you start entering text, the ‘X’ button to the right appears. Clicking it clears the text. Pressing enter on the keyboard submits. iTunes does the same thing. See the image below.

This is a great feature and I would like to see its use more in forms on the web.

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