Bad Practices on Phone Number Form Fields

The phone number is one of the trickiest fields to get right. There are many phone number formats users can choose from and they’re often unsure which format is valid.

Users react the same to phone number fields like they do with birthdate fields. When they’re unsure about the proper format, they worry that the form won’t validate their input. A validation error for the wrong phone number format can cause them to abandon the form.

Your users should not wonder which phone number format is valid or get a validation error for the wrong phone number format. If they do, your phone number field has a poor user experience and needs to be redesigned. Avoid the bad practices and follow the best practice if you want to improve your phone number field.

The Uncertain Way

Some designers think that allowing a phone number in any format is the answer. This would prevent validation errors, but it doesn’t curb user’s uncertainty about which format they should use.

Any uncertainty the user has can decrease your form conversion rate. Users need to be certain about their phone number format otherwise they’re going to worry their input won’t validate.

It’s also not clear to users whether they need to include their country code before their phone number…