On this page
Before you start, make sure you know:
Questions can be asked as full-sentence question labels or as text labels.
Example - Full-sentence question label - What is your residential address?
Example - Text label (that is, 1-4 words) - Residential address
Aim for concise rather than short
Compared to longer questions, short questions can often be harder to understand, because they use more complex or unfamiliar terminology and or have a more complex structure. Sometimes additional words aid comprehension and thus make for better overall usability.
Ask questions that users understand
Closed questions are easier to answer than open questions. Especially in government services, where users are often afraid of being caught out.
An example of a closed question might be ‘Do you live at more than one address?’ An open version of this question would be ‘Tell us about your living arrangements'.
A closed question provides the user with a set of options from which to choose their answer. Closed question response options can be presented in a number of ways, but the most common are:
- radio buttons
- checkboxes
- dropdowns.
In open questions, the user can provide any answer they like, into a text field.
Ideally, questions should be closed, because closed questions:
- minimise data entry for the form-filler
- minimise errors
- help the user interpret the question
However, only close a question if you know — rather than are guessing — what would be an appropriate set of response options. Closed question response options need to be:
Appropriate: the options should:
- account for the main answers form-fillers are likely to give
- come from reputable, relevant, and timely sources
- be at the right level of detail for the context of use
- be reviewed and updated on a regular (scheduled) and sufficiently frequent basis.
Complete: there must be a response option to suit each and every form-filler
Mutually exclusive: the options should not overlap
Self-explanatory: the meaning of the different options should be clear to the form-filler
Sorted: the options should be presented in the most logical and relevant order for that context of use. If it helps, options can also be grouped into categories
A series of simple questions can be easier to answer than one complex question. Especially if parts of it aren’t relevant to all users.
Let users answer with ‘I’m not sure’ or ‘I don’t know’ if these are valid answers.
Change the questions until you find what works
If people are struggling to understand a form, think about re-framing the question or changing the form structure as well as the language.
For example, try reversing the question so the user is invited to say ‘no’ rather than ‘yes’ (or the other way round). Sometimes users make assumptions about what the ‘right’ answer is.
Or try more descriptive labels for radio buttons or checkboxes.
If some radio button or checkbox labels are phrased differently from the others, it may make the page more readable if you separate the options that are different with an ‘or’.
Example
Will you be travelling to any of these countries?Canada
New Zealand
United States
or
No, I won't be travelling to any of these countries
Add help text where necessary
If they need it, you can add help text to nudge them in the right direction. Try starting without any help text and only include it once you have evidence it's needed.
Help users give you the right information
Do what you can to help users avoid failing validation and getting an error message. Set up your validation so it’s as tolerant as possible of users entering information in different ways.
Full-sentence questions versus text labels
Try to be consistent and stick mostly to only one type of question in a form. Use full sentences when:
- text labels may be ambiguous
- it is difficult to phrase some questions as text labels
- each form-filler will use the form infrequently (for example, a member of the general public registering a birth).
Full question sentences should end with a question mark ('?').
Use labels when one or more of the following conditions are met:
- each form-filler is likely to use the form frequently (and thus more likely to scan, which is supported by labels) for example, funeral providers registering a death
- the information being collected is very common to forms that the target audience is exposed to. A postal address is an example of such information.
Labels should never end with a colon or full stop or contain brackets or slashes. For example use - suburb or town - not suburb/town.
