User-friendly locations of error messages in web forms: Put them on the right side of the erroneous input field

► A study of web conventions looks at the most common placement of error messages in web forms. ► The most frequent place is to display them embedded in the form at the top of the entire form. ► Six locations (right, left, above, below the erroneous input field, top and bottom of the form) were tested (303 subjects). ► Results show that locations near the erroneous input field lead to a significantly better performance. ► Error messages on the right side of the erroneous input field were subjectively rated as the most satisfying and intuitive.