This isn’t about form states or hints. This isn’t about onboarding best practices or browser support. User experience should begin long before you reach that phase in your design process.

Why do companies need so much information about you? Having recently graduated with a business degree and an integrated marketing communications concentration, I can answer why they want all this information, but the real world has yet to reveal why they need it.

The simple answer: To better serve an individual, a company will learn all that they can to uncover unmet needs and address them in the best possible way.

The complicated answer: Ads.

Ads is a blanket term used by companies to justify all of the invasive information they request from their users. It makes sense that Google is using my location to better target me; and I don’t mind, because of two reasons:

I get something in return (Google Maps) They have demonstrated that they can adequately secure my information

Too often, companies treat their target market, too much like targets and not enough like humans. The us vs them mentality in business has slowly eroded the trust that mankind evolved to form cohesive societies. So companies adopted new faces called brands that could help them to appear as individuals, while still acting like military drones. To earn back the consumers confidence, companies developed brand trust.

Okay, so that is a bit cynical and I don’t think that evil lies in all companies. In fact, that evil isn’t a consequence of any single evil individual, or even a gang of evil executives; that evil arises from a company’s identity crisis. Here are two key ways to spot if a company you love is harboring the darkness capable of creating Death Stars.

Do As You’re Told

Do as you’re told brands will require information with no communication of the benefit it offers to you. Look out for companies that want to know everything about you, but have told you very little about themselves.

To hedge against this, as a company, just follow a very simple conversation path to determine if you are practicing evil, dark ad craft.

Hi, I’m [company name]; what’s your name?

Name field, justified.

I provide [product || services] that solve [problem]. I’ll use your location to help you find [solution] in your area.

Location, justified.

Etc.

In fact, it’s very easy to spot cracks in your business when you use the conversation model. It will force you to really think about why you need to collect something from your users and help you better understand your reason for existing in the marketplace, thus avoiding identity crisis.