Should empty optional field displayed in form overview before submitting?

Question

FORM FIELDS

Required fields: name, address, etc.

Two optional fields: overtime hours and remarks.

FLOW

• Fill in the form
• Click Review Form
• Form changes to review mode (no input fields, only a summary-like receipt)
• Review and submit

QUESTION

When an optional field is empty, should it still be displayed on the review page with a placeholder symbol (-) or should it be removed from the review page altogether?

If it is removed from the review page, does it mean that a user who filled in all fields would have a longer summary than one who didn't?

Thank you in advance.

Answer 1

It would be better usability on the Review screen to show the optional fields with an indicator that there was no data entered (such as a hyphen, or "N/A" for No Answer or Not Applicable), than to remove the empty fields. This will help the user more quickly notice if the field was accidentally skipped.