CPA – Member Application Form

When we tested the old form for Application to become a CPA Member and enrol in the CPA program it was not obvious that the application process had two stages – i.e. that one must be accepted as a member prior to being allowed to enrol. Our new design created a better delineation between these distinct sections of the form, removing any false expectations.

It was also clear that most people skipped past the conditions and went straight to the form filling. Our response was to make the many conditions an active part of the form by getting applicants to acknowledge they had read and agreed to the conditions by ticking a box. In a way, we are forcing people to read the conditions by utilising this kind of device. Testing showed that this made an enormous difference to form-fillers understanding of the form, with a reduction in errors and a change in their expectations.

Supply of support material has always been a problem for CPA. We also attempted to tackle this problem using the same tick box approach. While probably making applicants aware of the requirement to supply support material in reality many applicants, especially from overseas, do not have the required paperwork in the first place. This shows that the actual application processes that sit behind the form require review and possible modification – which is a common problem that design alone cannot fix. We undertook the CPA forms design projects on behalf of the CRI.