Form validation and disabled buttons

Allowing a user to submit and find errors is likely optimal compared to the cognitive load of searching a form to see why the button's disabled. However, this could be avoided by providing real-time validation feedback.

So then, which scenario is more user-friendly and prone to less fuss and errors?

1. Disable submit button until all the fields are filled out and valid. Shoe inline validation in real-time.


2. Don’t ever disable the submit button and only show validation errors after the user hits submit.

The forms are short in length - usually no more than 6-8 fields.