As Caroline says, this page is just a summary of some of the form design guidelines. The book has the full story.

Although I think that Bennett did a nice job of picking out some of the key points from the book, a quick summary does of course lose some detail.

In the book, we have a whole section on ‘relationship’, which is about being careful to ask only those questions that users expect to answer in the context of why they’re filling out the from.

Putting this another way: You’re right! Most people have exactly the reaction as you describe. That’s why we recommend that forms:
- explain why they’re asking for every question,
- avoid asking invasive questions,
- make the questions easy to answer.

In the past, I’ve also recommended that forms offer an ‘exploration mode’ that would allow users to preview the whole form and check that it doesn’t have any nasty surprises in it. But I’ve never actually seen a form built like this. It would make life so much easier for cautious people like yourself – it’s a pity that designers don’t try it.

best
Caroline Jarrett
http://www.formsthatwork.com

This part got me about uncomfortable. When I am about to make an order or sign-up for an account I usually want to know what I need to give them to complete the form.

Many times I can see forms where they first ask the simple questions like name. I spend time filling out the first and second pages, then the intrusive questions come.

Now I must choose between answering the intrusive questions or to consider my time on the form so far wasted.
This makes me very cautious whenever I’m presented with a form with only easy questions and a “Next” button.

Of course my way of reasoning might be in minority.

This is a great summary of some of the key points.

Thanks
Caroline