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Planning out a form isn’t always straightforward. Throughout the process, you might realize a better way of collecting information that you hadn’t considered before. As you complete each step, return to your progress from previous steps to make sure everything still works.
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List What You Need
To start, strip away all complexity and make just a simple list. This really points back to our first few Form Best Practices: Identify the Goals, Ask the Right Questions, and Only Ask for What You Need Now.
Start by identifying the broad type of data and your purpose for collecting it. You might do this at the same time as determining the specific question or prompt, but be ready to adjust the exact prompts as you better understand the needs of the form.
Complete columns B-D.
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Identify the Process and Expectations
Next, consider who will be using the data, what you expect it to include, and what happens if a user enters a nonsensical response just to get through the form. If the person who ultimately needs the data is not the person who will initially need to receive the results, note that as well.
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Are the expected responses the ones that I need?
Do the prompts need adjusting to get the responses I need?
How much of an issue is the effect of gibberish responses?
How can I mitigate gibberish responses?
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Set the Order and Define Relationships
Set the order of page content, including fields in the form and even content that might exist outside of the form. What order will Encourage Self-Service?
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Rearrange your rows as needed and complete columns A, H, and I.
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Determine Element Types
Now that you have a better picture of what you have and need, you can pick out the most appropriate Form Elements.
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To help you decide what elements will work best, it might help at this point to open up your form builder and start Building the Form. Try adding fields and adjusting their settings. If you do, just make sure to finish thinking through these final steps.
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Check for Security Needs
In the final step, double-check your security needs. Where will the data be stored, will it contain any Sensitive PII, and do you need to restrict who can access the results?
Complete columns L-N.
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Consider the Full Process, Start to Finish
At this point, you should have a pretty clear idea of the user experience for your form. What’s next?
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