# Asterisks on required trial form fields: +5.89% form completions

- Outcome: Won
- Page type: Free trial (SaaS)
- Elements: Form fields
- Date shared: 2020
- Test run by: [Micro Focus](https://liftarchive.com/practitioners/micro-focus/)
- Commentary by: LiftArchive (our analysis, not theirs)
- Original source: https://wingify.com/success-stories/microfocus/
- Page: https://liftarchive.com/test/micro-focus-free-trial-form-required-asterisks/

Adding asterisks to the required fields on its free trial form, plus a short 'required field' note above it, lifted form completions by 5.89%. Micro Focus ran this A/B test on its own free trial page, and it was published as a VWO case study.

## Result

**+5.89% form completions**

- Form completions: +5.89% for the variant over the control.
- The test ran on all traffic to the free trial page, split 50/50.
- No confidence level or visitor count was shared, so treat the size of the lift with some care.

## Control

The free trial sign-up form gave no sign of which fields had to be filled in before it could be submitted.

## Variant

The same form, with an asterisk on each mandatory field and a 'Required field' note placed above the form.

## Why it likely won (our reading)

- People can see up front what they must fill in, so fewer hit an error on submit and give up.
- Clear markers make the form feel more predictable, which lowers the effort it seems to take.
- It follows a common form convention, so visitors do not have to work out the rules for themselves.

## Caveats

Ran for 20 days. The sample size and statistical confidence were not shared, and the result is reported in a vendor case study.

## How to run this test

- Hypothesis: If we mark required fields with an asterisk and add a short note explaining the marker, then more visitors will complete the trial form because they will know what is needed before they submit.
- Primary metric: Trial form completion rate
- Guardrail: Form validation error rate
- Guardrail: Trial-to-activation rate
- Guardrail: Lead quality (share of completed forms that are real prospects)
- Who should test it: SaaS teams with a multi-field trial or demo form that mixes required and optional fields. It probably won't matter much if every field is required, or if the form only has one or two fields.

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Credit: Micro Focus ran this test and owns the result. Summary and commentary by LiftArchive (https://liftarchive.com/test/micro-focus-free-trial-form-required-asterisks/).
Usage: Free to use, quote and build on, with credit and a link: name the practitioner or organization that ran the test and link to its LiftArchive page. The results belong to the practitioners who ran and shared them; the summaries and commentary are LiftArchive's.