Forms indispensable to how you compose emails and online purchases, communicate with companies, sign on to WiFi networks or carry out numerous other activities that are routinely performed. Most of the time it’s painful and frustrating yet you’re used it. Forms are an everyday occurrence–something you use not because you want to, but because you have to.
Form Software Startup Typeform is determined to transform the way people experience their work. The Barcelona-based company believes that everyday annoyances should be a breeze, natural and gorgeous. There’s no need to scroll through endless input boxes, or zooming into and out of mobile devices to place checkmarks on tiny squares. Typeform would like you to forget you’re filling in an application form or taking a test because you’re having fun doing it. It seems to be successful.
Each month, 5 million people across the globe fill out Typeforms all over the world. In January, the total filling rate was 59 percent. This means that more than half of the 5 million users who logged on to Typeform during the course of 31 days actually completed the entire form, and submitted it.
However, Typeform’s high completion rates aren’t a result of luck. The new way of forming software proves that great ideas can be found anyplace, even bathrooms.
Typeform: Developed in the bathroom showroom
In 2010, the soon-to-be Typeform founders David Okuniev and Robert Munoz shared a space for their own web design firms, sometimes working together on projects. Munoz was requested by a client to design an exhibit center display for the company Roca which is a contemporary, focused bathroom business that is designed with a focus on design.
To display their most popular product, Roca creates museum-like showrooms that potential customers can walk through. The showroom featured a couple of iMacs on the walls as well as Okuniev along with Munoz were given the task of creating models that would be displayed on the screens when prospective clients walked by.
The two designers knew they couldn’t utilize a traditional design because the environment demanded something unique and something that could attract bathroom enthusiasts. To match the style of Roca design, they designed a simple modern, modern interface that features huge fonts and simple. A cursor appeared on screen, and you would type ” What’s your name?“, and then move on into the next line, inviting the user to input their name.
It was easy, simple and conversational. This was something other than the typical format.
After completing with the Roca project, the co-founders of Typeform were intrigued by the idea of improving the form, and set out to design a form maker which would turn conventions on their head. With a clear understanding of the future of forms, Okuniev and Munoz began using resources and staff from their respective businesses to join this Typeform project. Then, in February of 2013, they unveiled an Beta Version of the latest version of Form software.
One of the most effective services we’ve come across to design and conduct various surveys.
AddictiveTips Blog on Typeform
Two years after their beginnings at a bathroom showroom, Typeform counts Airbnb, The New York Times, Red Bull, Sony Music and Adobe to name a few as customers. Along the way Typeform has received praise from the public, too. “It’s among the most effective solutions we’ve come across for designing and conducting surveys in a simple manner,” writes Waqas Ahmed of AddictiveTips.
Leçons from re-inventing the form
To get beyond the Typeform’s origin story to understand what the startup’s founders did to take an entirely new strategy, we spoke to Okuniev who is the co-founder and lead of the product. In his account of Typeform’s early days, and his predictions for the future for this company. He centered on six unorthodox strategies which have helped his team succeed in a competitive marketplacethat is, online forms software.
1. Do not follow advice
Okuniev and Munoz created their version of the software for forms using only the end-product in their minds. They didn’t have a keen interest in the business of marketing or data analysis. They wanted to create an elegant product that would make forms easy and fun. With confidence in their idea The co-founders plowed through their work without using lean methods or conducting tests with a team of beta users. They created their product in complete isolation.
I don’t believe the product would have reached the level it is today if we had done it in a collaborative manner.
David Okuniev, Typeform co-founder
The two are now convinced that if they’d taken suggestions, they would end up re-creating the existing designs that no one would like to complete. Like the famous line by Henry Ford when he said, “If I had asked people what they wanted they would have answered faster horses,”” they Typeform co-founders believed that the public would only think of designs that were similar to the ones they’re accustomed to. Instead, they wanted to create something completely different.
The Typeform team didn’t want to be constrained in the number of risk they could take. They opted to approach forms with a fresh slate and as if they’d been invented before, tearing the idea of a formal form in order to make it easier to rebuild it. Okuniev acknowledges that their approach was a complete anti-democratic one However, he’s convinced that Typeform was successful due to it.
“I believe that the product would have reached the level it has today had we collaborated and relied upon a group of people,” Okuniev says. There are other forms of apps that exist in large numbers So how would Typeform differ when it was shaped according to current expectations?
2. Rethink conventions
The co-founders were aware that they wanted their forms to be conversational. If they could design forms that engaged people and made them feel like they were real, they were confident that they’d have better responses. “Abandonment is a huge issue, and that’s why we involve people throughout the process, and make sure that they complete the process,” Okuniev says.
As designers of interfaces and interface designers, they realized that making their designs as clean and clear as they could was likely to be noticed and make them stand out. They drew their inspirations from the interactive computer interface that was driven by questions in the 1983 film WarGames. There is no in-line input, just a cursor and a text. The Typeform logo, which is a cursor and”t “t”–is an homage to that original design.
By focusing on a single issue at a given time means the process of filling in the Typeform in a way that is more focused. Typeform is not as mindless filling out forms rather than, for instance taking care of text messages left by friends. Because Typeform employs fonts larger than the typical form and the creators are encouraged to create questions that are easy to answer yet also a bit human. This is accomplished with humor or with a specific tone that matches the brand.
Imagine the traditional forms in a human manner: If someone asked you to provide personal information by shouting commands (“Sign Here!”) or by asking one-word questions (“Name? “, “Birthday? “, “Address?”) Your inclination to answer could be uncertain at most. That’s the reason Typeform attempts to make it feel like conversations. “If you make people feel involved by filling out forms, they’re likely to give more precise answer,” Okuniev says.
A single question at a time allows the participants to concentrate on the issue at hand instead of having to scroll through endlessly or think about how many questions remain left on this mandatory-for-work survey. “Previous” questions and “next” question types aren’t totally accessible, but they’re blurred out. If users wanted to browse through the entire form, or jump to the next one without answering it using”tab. “tab” option. This puts the control back in the hands of the user.
What they decide to do with filling out the form is entirely up to the user. The goal of Typeform is to make the process as simple and intuitive as is possible.
3. Prioritize convenience
Most forms require lots of switching using the mouse or keyboard: Click on one of the input boxes, then move towards the keyboard to type the name of your choice, click to select an option from a drop-down menu then press”next” “next” click. The Typeform platform has eliminated that. “It’s all about making it effortless and as painless as is possible. It was just a natural thing to fill Typeforms into a keyboard without the mouse being touched,” Okuniev says.
To accomplish this, Typeform relies on keyboard shortcuts, for example, typing the letters “Y” to indicate yes or “N” to indicate no. Ratings are answered with the appropriate number, such as “5” 5 stars for five star ratings. Answers for multiple-choice questions can be related to letters. The process of submitting an answer is as simple as pressing”Enter” or the “Enter” button. When the current question has been answered, the form moves onto the next one. It eliminates the stress of having to bounce back and forth between the mouse and keyboard.
4. Don’t alter what you have
Since the very beginning Typeform recognized that they wanted to focus on one particular goal: making forms more engaging, enjoyable and appealing. Okuniev and Munoz believed that forms required a change not only to make them look nice, but also to improve their functionality and in terms of completion rates. This is the reason Typeform puts a strong emphasis on the ease of use of the form, and let that work speak for its own.
Since the introduction of the first version in 2013 Typeforms themselves haven’t been changed in a significant way. The Typeform team believes that what they’ve created does the job, and they don’t want alter what users are used to.
Their experience with design has also prompted them to look at opportunities to fill out forms that do not exist elsewhere. Typeform has developed interactive, infographic methods to respond to questions. This blurs the lines between an online form and a traditional form and makes users forget that they is performing a tedious task. Instead of filling out bullet points to indicate your satisfaction or satisfaction, a Typeform could require you to fill out crowns or hearts. Instead of selecting a career by selecting a drop-down list, the Typeform may ask you to pick images that represent your work.
The smallest of details can make a significant impact on the user experience. Since Typeforms don’t have to adhere to traditional conventions for form design they may also incorporate GIFs photographs, GIFs, and videos. Typeform intends to give creators of forms as many tools as they can to design forms that are compatible with their brand, delight their customers, and align to the tone they usually employ.
5. Keep experimenting
Typeform has been able to create an app that is loved by people. For proof, look at the #AskAwesomely hashtag on Twitter. It’s a perfect example of the exact amount of money that was spent on traditional marketing. However, they did not stop at that point. The key to the success of Typeform lies in its uniqueness–that none of the other forms look like the one used by Typeform. To continue to improve, Typeform can’t just be beautiful and entertaining it must continue to challenge the boundaries of what forms are able to do.
Since it has been established as a reliable form application, they’ve launched the Typeform I/O. In simple words it’s a rendering tool that allows developers to build forms instantly through programming instead of using an interface. The goal is to take the Typeform idea to make forms as user-friendly and personal as is possible to a greater degree.
“Ever since we launched the beta version of I/O we knew that this was the direction we’d like to go after we’d proven and established our idea,” explains Okuniev. “We’ve got to a stage where people want to learn more about Typeform and incorporate the Typeform user experience into workflows.”
They are known for their creating new forms and transforming the industry Typeform I/O isn’t even the only project they’re working on. The company is also facing the problem of trying to figure out how to create forms that can be used on tiny screens, as smart watches and wearable technology are becoming more commonplace.
“Forms were not designed for mobile devices even wearable devices. This is the reason we need to think about how (they) function,” Okuniev says. Do you think forms are a pain to fill out on your smartphone? Imagine filling them out with an electronic watch. Now that’s a bit frustrating.
Okuniev believes that Typeform is an interface business but not a mobile one. “If Typeform was here in 10 years when we have interfaces for our contact lenses which is where Typeform could have been,” he says. How do you complete a form on the lens of a contact? This is exactly what they’d have to determine.
6. Let your work speak for itself.
Okuniev is an advocate of telling the person filling out the application that effort was put into the creation of the form. It not only improves users’ experience but but it also improves the brand’s popularity. It also creates a number more Typeform users. We’re so used to thinking that forms shouldn’t be boring and boring that stepping onto the Typeform is like breathing a breath from the air. Typform is aware of that and has capitalized on it.
Okuniev claims that 50 percent of all signups can be attributed to the button in the lower right-hand side of the screen. It says, “Create your own Typeform.” “Millions of people each month arrive on Typeforms thinking”cool, I’d like to create it!’ so simply click this button” Okuniev says.
7. Do not second-guess yourself
The most important advice of Okuniev to start a business is to reevaluate your thinking. Take a long, hard look at the worth that your offering. “If you aren’t able to think outside the box, you should reconsider making your way into a competitive market,” he says.
If you’re not equipped with the courage to think outside of the box perhaps you ought to consider avoiding the market.
David Okuniev, Typeform co-founder
In a market that is saturated, such as the one for form software, replicating what’s already in place to be ineffective. Typeform determined to develop something that the users didn’t think they needed, as there was no one else making it.
“It’s all about identifying your distinctive selling point,” Okuniev says. Identifying what differentiates your product enough to offer value to users is an important factor to the success of your product. For Typeform it meant honeing on usability, human touch, and beautiful designs. It was about re-inventing a long-standing technology to make a product that doesn’t look like other products available and constantly expanding the product to ensure its the uniqueness.