Online forms: one or many?

When converting traditional paper forms to online, it seems logical to create the forms like-for-like. But there’s a lot of hidden power in online forms that’s worth embracing.

One of the situations we occasionally come across is a business who is using multiple forms for their clients. These forms are handed out, based on questions asked, or a particular type of enquiry. But we find that most of those forms ask the same questions, apart from a select few about the topic of the form.

Online, you don’t have to have each of them as separate forms. There’s this clever little thing called “conditional logic”, which we love here at Malvolio. Conditional logic allows you to have one form with many questions – a bit like a “choose your own adventure” book – but without it looking or feeling complicated.

So how does that work?

We basically break up a form into a number of pages, each with a few related questions on each page. Based on what options are selected, the next lot of relevant questions appear. For example: the questions could be based on the location or activity selected.

Conditional logic can also make a very detailed form look simple, which is not always possible on paper. If you have some questions that require more information, the “additional information” fields can appear once your customer has completed the first part of the question – and only show them the fields they need to complete. They won’t need to try to figure out what parts of the form they need to complete.

From a business perspective, conditional logic forms are also easier to maintain. Instead needing to update multiple forms with the same changes or new questions, you only need to update one form – minimising the chance for errors or forgotten updates.

If you have forms you are wanting to get online, and move away from printed forms – contact us and find out what we can do to simplify yours.