Contact forms are the lifeblood of the internet. They offer the most basic way to communicate with an organization and they’re pretty much here to stay.

While contact forms may be a clumsy way of communicating, they can get the job done. The problem: are they getting the job done effectively?

There are three common problems with contact forms. The first problem occurs when a form is too daunting for a user to complete. Usually, the form is either too long, confusing or asking for information deemed too personal. The second problem occurs when the user does fill out the form but the information provided is not useful. This is typically the result of an ill-prepared form that asks all the wrong questions. The third and final problem is technical in nature. If there’s a problem with the server and the form doesn’t submit correctly, not only could you lose the form data, but you’ll also have one annoyed user to deal with.

How can we improve the effectiveness of our forms? Here are a few guidelines that I try to follow whenever I create a form.

I like Facebook, I really do. But the whole ordeal over their Terms of Service was a joke. Even worse, Facebook’s response was confusing, and at best, lame.

First off, Facebook runs a service that should pretty much be hands-off. Beyond a few interface changes, I don’t really want to hear from Facebook. A controversial Terms of Service is not something I want to be concerned with. Unless a change is absolutely vital, don’t do it or bother users with it.

Facebook also needs to do a better job of understanding its user base. The new Terms of Service probably made perfect sense to Facebook management, but obviously the user base didn’t understand. If Facebook couldn’t figure that out, what else are they missing?

Finally, the response of pulling the new Terms of Service off and reverting to the old one was confusing. I understand the need to quell a potential user rebellion, but I guess the new terms really weren’t that important. Facebook’s most recent response has been to open their blog up to comments. Big deal. This should have been done from the beginning. Closing off your blog to your own users seems pompous and uncaring. But what’s funny is that when they did open the floodgates, the first post received over 2,000 comments (many of which were puerile and annoying).

So, in the end, Facebook is back on the old terms and now has given the promise to listen to its users by letting them post comments on their blog. Can I really expect someone at Facebook to sift through 2,000 comments? I doubt it. They don’t even read their emails (which is a whole different matter).

User rebellions seem to be a new phenomenon. Social networking services like Facebook are being held hostage by their users. And I must say this is a good thing. Digg has had a few rebellions and I think it served them well. When users are in control, users get what they want. And when users get what they want, the service improves. If only companies like Microsoft were held hostage by their users, it would be a whole different world.

I think I enjoy the creation of post titles more than anything else. The "name" in question, though, is my last name: LeCompte. I’m asked a lot by people about it. Not sure why — wait a second — actually, I am sure why. Most of the times, these people knew someone or heard of someone with the same last name.

Now, LeCompte isn’t too common of a last name so I can see why this might serve as a focal point of interest. I enjoy having an uncommon last name, too. I can be pretty sure when I see or hear it, it’s referring to me. I get to capitalize the "C" which is pretty cool. Telemarketers don’t know how to pronounce or spell it, so that acts as an immediate sort of spam filter.

The troubled little browser known as IE6 has been a thorn in the side of developers since it was first released over six years ago. It’s buggy, non-compliant and inflexible. To design a web site to work with IE6 requires either multiple hacks on the CSS side of things or extreme patience. (Just to note, I never used hacks to get something to work with IE6. Yes, I’m very proud of that.)

I don’t think anyone besides web developers can truly appreciate what a monstrosity IE6 has been. You think doing your taxes is bad? Try getting hundreds of lines of CSS code to work with a now antiquated browser that somehow still attracts a notable percentage of internet users.

But I think that’s about to end.