Modernizing Your Data Capture - The vision for your data capture

Modern forms can be very powerful and depending on who your audience is you can create very tailored experiences for them but here are some high-level strategies to ensure you are building user friendly forms.

Simple

No one wants to fill out a form, but they are a necessity of life. Forms should be as easy to complete as possible for the users. Users should not have to make any decisions or have to think critically when completing the form.  If as a designer, you feel you need to add extra details to explain what is expected of the user try a different layout.

Helpful

Support the user in completing the form as quickly as possible by pre-filling information, reducing the number of fields they need to complete and leveraging smart field items to reduce the amount of typing a user needs to do. Take this a step further with inline validation rather than leaving all of the validation to the end of the form.

Appealing

The form should be easy to read and follow along with but the form should also look good. We are bombarded with different screens and ads all day. The goal should be to create a pleasant environment that is recognizable as part of your organization. 

Empowering

Forms should allow users to be able to complete the transaction on their own in whatever fashion they want. If this means being able to start and stop the process, move from one device to another, or be able to complete the entire process without having to interact with another person.

As a side note integrating analytics with your forms will allow you to learn how long it took users to complete sections along with where they are getting stuck or completely abandoning the process altogether.