Is a cancel button really needed in a form in a page?

Question

I have a form, which is on a page of its own - it's a huge one, and one of the internal reviewers recommended to add a cancel button to it. I am just trying to figure out if a cancel button is applicable in a full-page form.

I can't figure out what should be the behavior of the form when the cancel button is clicked. The recommendation given was that clicking the cancel button should take them to the main home page but that just seems odd since there is no guarantee that the person would have landed on the form page from the main page (or from any page) and I don't want users thinking "Wait, how did I just get to this page?"

So do you think I should push back and say a cancel button is not needed or do you see any specific value add to it?

Note: Please note I did look at the older questions

Is a cancel button necessary in a windows form? - This deals with modal dialogues so it's not applicable to my case

Is a cancel button necessary in a web form? - The question is generic and the responses don't really address my question.

Answer 1

I would push back on the recommendation in this case unless the person can give you a business case or user story that specifically requires a cancel button.

If the primary method of navigation to this form is via bookmark or in a list of internal tools/links that people bookmark, and the form is not clearly part of a hierarchy or other discernible navigation path, you're right that in this case there is no good answer to "well, where do I take the user when they cancel?"

While the Alertbox for Cancel and Reset buttons is 12 years old, I think that in your specific situation the guidance not to use cancel is appropriate. To wit, this is not a multi-step form, and since it no action is happening at all until the user submits the form (I am assuming), the need to have a cancel button for "an extra feeling of safety" doesn't seem to apply. In other words, if the user can safely abandon this form then I think Cancel is unnecessary.

Note that if there is any Ajax-ified auto-saving or other behavior happening in this form, I probably would have a cancel button, which would lead to some sort of informative landing page that said something to the effect of "It's cool, nothing happened with your data, carry on with your work" (ok, maybe not those words...), since you'd still have the problem of not knowing where to send a user back to, should they cancel.

Answer 2

Cancel buttons can be extremely useful. For example, in the screenshot below it gives me peace of mind in knowing I can successfully exit the process at any time.

Especially useful with forms requiring multiple steps. Closing the window on a page/step 2 can cause confusion as to what will happen with the data you have already supplied. This is where I would most recommend a cancel button.

Answer 3

Lots of users like a way out of any situation. If you are okay with this way out being your users closing the form and there are no technical implications with the user aborting the process in the middle, then I say you don't need one.

Having a cancel button can make things comfortable for a lot of users, so it might be a good idea to have one, but it certainly isn't necessary. This is especially true for single page forms.

Answer 4

I'm still probably a novice at I-T. I'm 63 & never used a computer until about 10 years ago. I was just at a site that had a form where u could ask a question about the business that the site was for or give your thoughts about how using the business worked for you.

I was typing in something that had to do with the latter. I had put a lot of time & thought into my reply & when I was 3/4's of the way through, my right hand just made an involuntary movement which sometimes happens due to a health issue I have.

Unfortunately, my hand hit the cancel button & 1 & 1/2 hours of work went away! Is there a way to get this form back with all of the paragraphs I had typed into it? I Don't know if anybody will answer this and/or I'm pretty sure it wont be quick enough even if there is a way - which I doubt. But I would know going forward.

I think you are asked to weigh in on this topic of whether or not to have a cancel button on a form. As I'm sure I'm not alone in what I described - the answer is clearly - PLEASE DON'T HAVE CANCEL BUTTONS ON WEBSITE FORMS!

Answer 5

What you really should consider when using Cancel buttons is if it counters logic. If a user fills out a form that is long enough, there is no need for a Cancel button; they've already committed to filling it out. In fact, what if they fill out this rather-lengthy form, only to accidentally hit said-Cancel button? Will the user be happy or annoyed? Will he start over or be discouraged? Sometimes, you can only fire that arrow once when you try to win over potential users. Personally, I would never include a Cancel button on any form that is served to create an instance of something-commital; whether it be registration, profile setup, tax forms, etc.

On the other hand, using forms as an alternative to changing personal preferences quickly (whether permanently or temporarily) makes for a much better candidate for the Cancel button. Consider a form that has one field, a Change Location form for instance. Perhaps the user doesn't want to change their location just yet, perhaps he clicked it by accident, perhaps he was only exploring, etc. These forms tend to be much less committal, and the user should feel like it's something that won't change their overall experience too much. Personally, I would include a Cancel button on forms that aren't commital; forms that change the behavior of the site.