The Huff-Duffer has came up with, in my opinion, a remarkable signup form (below). The signup form has this unique ‘human’ feeling that led to the following exchange between me and, Adam, a work colleague.

Me:

New approach to signup forms
http://huffduffer.com/signup/
I personally like it. More ‘human’.
What do you think?

Adam:

I have mixed feelings about this…

First off, as I am sure is the same with each of you, it was clear this was intended to mimic a paper form (which is where the “more human” comment comes from, I assume).

Though the immediate familiarity is there, I can’t help but be reminded of the circumstances where I am required to fill out a paper form - entering a contest, filling out important records (medical, legal, otherwise), etc.  Most of the circumstances I associated with filling out a paper form were not remembered as particularly comfortable, let alone pleasant - there is, in fact, a feeling of anxiety associated with the task of filling out a paper form…  Just an observation…

Second, one problem with paper forms of this nature is that often is it easy to “skip” past areas which require data entry as they “blend easier” into the body of the form itself.  In fact, 3M has made millions of dollars with little sticky arrows to attach to forms to help users find where they need to enter information.  If used to collect a significant amount of information, this method may also suffer from the same problem.

The standard form objects have moved into the general mindset as recognizable elements which require user attention, not to mention the fact that they provide a whole host of interaction methods (sliders, dropdowns, etc.) not offered anywhere else…  I do think that something like this has its place though…  I am just not quite sure, yet, as to where this would be…

Me:

You’re right. It’s more of [a] mimic of a paper form. Might not be the best way of collecting information online (especially with larger set of entry fields), yet still, there’s something human about it.

May be it’s the way the application is talking to me as a user, or me talking to _it_ (I was about to use ‘him’ instead of ‘it’). May be because of the perception I get that this form will be eventually read by a human being, wearing a reading glasses and handling my signup request with care and passion instead of a cold, heartless ‘Internet’ sitting somewhere down the wires. May be because it’s merely _different_ from the gazillion signup forms I’ve had to fill out to date. May be because I get that this huff/duffer guy(s) wants to be ‘remarkable’ and in doing so will give me a better service.

I agree it’s not applicable in many cases, but being notable/remarkable/different is worth a shot (not sure where though)

Putting that mail together, I remembered the Moo Tools. It took us no less than 15 minutes to discuss it, not even knowing what the huff/duffer guys do
Isn’t that remarkable?

http://thinkremarkable.com/