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Online donation slips have perforation strips?!

Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2015 10:28 am
by TuckerHST
http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/f ... -donations

Can anyone explain to me the purpose of the perforation strip in the screen shot? Does the UX team think that, without that perforation strip, users won't figure out that the form is like a donation slip in the physical world? (I beg to differ.)

Form follows function. If the perforations are merely ornamental, I suggest the screen real estate be reclaimed.

Re: Online donation slips have perforation strips?!

Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2015 10:39 am
by lajackson
TuckerHST wrote:Can anyone explain to me the purpose of the perforation strip in the screen shot?
I hear you, and would expect the same comment from most anyone who has been waiting anxiously for this capability that has a modicum of web browsing sensibility.

However, never unwilling to hazard a guess, I think the reason is that there are quite a number of members who still are not comfortable with payments and things electronic. This may simply be a nod to them to provide a little comfort visual that might even help them get over their fear and try out the new online system.

I could be totally off base, of course, but this is as comfortable a reason as I am able to conjure up on a moment's notice under the circumstances. [grin]

Re: Online donation slips have perforation strips?!

Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2015 10:53 am
by russellhltn
lajackson wrote:I think the reason is that there are quite a number of members who still are not comfortable with payments and things electronic. This may simply be a nod to them to provide a little comfort visual that might even help them get over their fear and try out the new online system.
I think it's to prevent questions like "how do I fill this out?" From the visual, the anwer is clearly "just like the paper form".

Re: Online donation slips have perforation strips?!

Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2015 11:09 am
by TuckerHST
Well, I wouldn't have brought it up if I didn't suspect that you're right -- that the UX designers really do believe that users are so clueless that, without that perforation strip, they won't figure out that it's the same form. For consistency, that argues in favor of including 3 punched holes in Handbook 2, and virtually every PDF form.

Perforations add nothing to the UX and consume constrained screen real estate. If they are merely decoration, they must go. If they are functional, then I'm curious about what they do.

Re: Online donation slips have perforation strips?!

Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2015 11:27 am
by lmcguire
TuckerHST wrote:If they are functional, then I'm curious about what they do.
Well, if you printed the page, it would tell you where to crease and / or cut... ;)

Liz

Re: Online donation slips have perforation strips?!

Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2015 11:31 am
by TuckerHST
lmcguire wrote:
TuckerHST wrote:If they are functional, then I'm curious about what they do.
Well, if you printed the page, it would tell you where to crease and / or cut... ;)
Since perforations on the paper form mean there's a carbon copy, perhaps the meaning is: "Press each key hard, you're making multiple copies." :-)

Re: Online donation slips have perforation strips?!

Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2015 11:39 am
by sbradshaw
I like how it looks, personally. :)

Re: Online donation slips have perforation strips?!

Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2015 12:14 pm
by lajackson
Maybe it's one of those Captcha things. You have to count the number of holes to prove you are human. [grin]

Re: Online donation slips have perforation strips?!

Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2015 12:18 pm
by TuckerHST
sbradshaw wrote:I like how it looks, personally. :)
Yes, it's pretty, but that doesn't change the fact that functionless decoration in a constrained dimension diminishes usability.

Most screens are landscape; the form is portrait. That means every vertical pixel has to count. Now if those perforations DO something, that's a horse of a different color.

Re: Online donation slips have perforation strips?!

Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2015 12:19 pm
by lmcguire
If I were one of the programmers, and I had seen this thread, I would be *seriously* pondering Easter eggs by now. :D