One question, nine boxes
The studio in the reel, Juniper Clay, is made up. So is Priya. The form is a very normal form. Name, email, phone, company, job title, country, budget, how did you hear about us, message. Nine boxes standing between a person and the sentence "Do you ship to Canada?"
Each box costs a little. Phone feels like a sales call is coming. Company and job title feel like a B2B funnel. Budget, for someone asking about shipping, feels like a trap. Priya left at Budget. Lots of people would.
Why it gets this long
Nobody designs a nine-box form on purpose. Someone in sales wanted the budget. Someone in marketing wanted the source. Every field has a person who asked for it, and nobody in the room was the visitor.
Research on forms keeps landing in the same place. Fewer fields, plainer labels, and explain any field people find nosy. Nielsen Norman Group's form guidelines and Baymard's checkout work both say it. We collected the evidence in why people abandon forms.
Keep three
- Name, so you can say hi.
- Email, so you can reply.
- Message, so they can ask the thing.
Everything else goes in your reply. "Happy to help. What sort of budget are you working with?" lands fine once someone is already talking to you. On a form, it lands like a toll booth.
TRY THIS TODAYCount the boxes on your contact form. Cut it to name, email and message. Move budget, company and "how did you hear about us" into your first reply.
Moxel notes the last field each person touched before leaving, so you can see whether yours is Budget too. How that works is in track form abandonment.
What the reel said
TALLYNine boxes on this contact form.
MOXNine? I only wanted to ask if you ship to Canada.
TALLYPhone. Company. Job title. Budget.
MOXBudget? For one question? I'm out.
TALLYLost one. At Budget.
MOXKeep three boxes. Name, email, message. Ask about budget in your reply, once they're talking to you.
MOXCount yours. Or comment SITE and I'll tell you what I'd cut.
Asked a lot
- How many fields should a contact form have?
- Three is enough for most sites: name, email and message. Ask anything else in your reply.
- Should I ask for budget on a contact form?
- Usually not. It scares off people with simple questions. Ask about budget in your reply, once they are talking to you.
Sources
- Website forms usability: top 10 recommendationsNielsen Norman Group, Kathryn Whitenton, May 2016.
- Checkout optimization: 5 ways to minimize form fields in checkoutBaymard Institute, Edward Scott, June 2024.