Your website sucks because it asks unnecessary questions

Imagine you meet someone new and ask where they’re from.

“Cincinnati,” they reply.

“Oh, cool,” you say. “And what country are you from?”

The conversation isn’t likely to go much further. They’ll think you’re either dumb or trolling.

But you’d never do that, because there’s obviously no point to the followup question. You know better.

Your website, on the other hand …

Take a look at this checkout screen:

Fun fact, the first digit of a credit card number tells you what type of card it is.

So there’s no need to ask.

And this is off-putting even to visitors who don’t spend their free time researching the arcana behind credit card numbers and their meanings. Because they shop online all the time, and almost no other site asks for this info.

You might introduce similar friction if you have an address autocomplete function - one that asks visitors to start typing their address, then select the correct one from a dynamically populated dropdown box.

Once they select that address - including city and state - you may not ask them to manually fill in their city, state, and zip code.

If you do, you turn your address form into a humiliating chore. I know you know my city, why are you making me type it?

Here's what you can do

First, make sure that your forms aren’t too long.

(If you don’t have to ask, don’t ask. If you have to ask, but not yet, ask later.)

Then take another look at every input you require visitors to complete and ask, is there any way to get this information other than making them type it?

If you can derive the answer from something they’ve already told you, do that.