One of the biggest challenges that we had was a multi-step form to compare electricity plans. The form was an embedded feature on our homepage and only 20 percent of the form was completed. The initial was to make them fall off most of them. The initial step required a lot of personal data to be given without giving anything in return. We turned to another type of different structure. We did not ask all the personal information of the user at the first visit, however, there was one question to ask: what is your postcode? Then we applied conditional logic to display user a preview of optimal electricity rates in the area they live. Then we asked the user to tell us more. This one change was of titanic impact. We improved by 125 percent to a completion rate of 45 percent. The greatest lesson that I have learned through this experiment is that you have to give the user something of value before requesting them to make a major commitment. We presented a pre-view of the savings they would get and this encouraged them to fill in the form. The approach will assist us in generating more leads and delivering more value to our customers.
When a medical training company for doctors and surgeons came to us, their online application form was a dead end. It was a long, multi-step process for applying, booking, and paying for training, requiring detailed personal and professional information along with document uploads. On paper, it ticked every compliance box and gave the admin team everything they could possibly want. In reality, it had a 100% drop-off rate. No one ever finished it. The few prospects who stuck around were picking up the phone instead, leaving the company with no online conversions and no way to directly attribute marketing spend to completed applications. The problem wasn't just the volume of questions, it was the experience. We restructured the form so users could bypass entire sections that were "nice to have" rather than essential at this stage, cutting irrelevant steps and streamlining the journey. Complex, document-heavy requirements were grouped together and moved later in the process so users weren't hit with multiple "high effort" moments spread throughout. Each stage was broken into smaller, digestible subsections. The result? Within the first week, they had their first-ever completed applications online, and customers were even making full payments via the form for the first time. Abandonment rates dropped to around 20%, and for the first time, they could clearly see which marketing channels were driving results. Our approach with high-friction forms is to front-load the easy wins, group the difficult steps, and track every stage with unique events so you can see exactly where people drop off. If you can't implement event tracking, use tools like Hotjar to record sessions and spot sticking points. Test every version yourself on multiple devices and get others to do the same. Most importantly, have someone on the team whose job is to protect conversion rate. It's far too easy to keep adding "just one more question" until you've built a barrier instead of a bridge.
Our checkout process for our ergonomic desks initially had a 40 percent drop-off rate. Our previous process was long & complicated and a lot of our customers were abandoning their purchase before completing it. We solved this by making things simpler, like putting a progress bar of how many steps are left so customers feel more control. We also changed sequences, putting the most important decision (desk size) first & decreased the total number of steps to consider (from six to four). These changes have resulted in an overall 30 percent increase in completion rates. On mobile, the improvement was even higher at 35%. We learned that simplifying and guiding the customer through the process made them more likely to finish their purchase.