"As a web developer for my company I am getting pressure from staff
to make more of the fields on our web forms 'required.' This goes against
my better judgment, but I'm struggling to articulate a response. What
rationale should we use to decide when fields should be 'required' and
when they should not?" -- James Bardwell
Only require information that you absolutely need. People are concerned
about online privacy, with the result that the more you require a visitor
to fill out, the fewer visitors will bother to complete the form. Which
is more important to your company -- fewer completed forms with full information
or more completed forms with minimal information? Sometimes corporate
executives don't clearly understand the trade-off. A customer-friendly
approach to gain more information about online visitors might be to administer
an occasional optional survey with a special bonus for those who complete
it.
