Web forms offer a user-friendly way to collect accurate data. You can be sure it’s right because you’ve shifted data entry to the information source. This may be a requesting department member, employee, customer or vendor who has the knowledge to enter the correct information completes the digital form. Your staff gets an email when a form has been submitted and has visibility into automated workflows that put the data to work and kick off the next action in the process.
When designed thoughtfully, eforms refine and speed up the way data is collected, processed and managed across a business. This post delves into best practices for creating web forms that optimize data collection and integrate smoothly into broader workflow processes.
Table of Contents
Introduction to form workflows
Improving forms workflows is a powerful way for organizations to move the needle when it comes to improving process performance. Modern form workflows are triggered by the submission of a digital form. These workflows guide the resulting data through a series of predefined steps, eliminating manual intervention and ensuring accuracy. Whether it’s processing purchase requisitions or managing HR onboarding, form workflows can be an important part of the backbone of modern business operations.
Your company can go a step further by enabling electronic signatures convert forms into legally binding documents that require no physical interaction. Electronic signatures not only enhance the usability of forms but also improve security and compliance across different sectors, such as finance or healthcare.
Web forms eliminate:
- Time spent filing and retrieving paper forms
- Manual data entry
- The challenge of deciphering messy handwriting
- Processes being slowed down when forms stalled at an employee’s desk
- Lack of visibility into business processes
- Difficulty effectively capturing and sharing information with a mobile/remote workforce
Integration with other business applications
The true value of web forms emerges when they integrate with business applications. A digital form is not a stand-alone entity; it is part of a larger ecosystem. Through integration, data captured in forms can be automatically transferred to customer relationship management (CRM) systems, enterprise resource planning (ERP) software accounting software or HR platforms.
For instance, using a form to capture employee data in an onboarding process can automatically update data in multiple departments — such as HR, payroll and IT— for example, initiating equipment orders, and requesting new user accounts from a single form submission.
Why do you need web forms in your organization?
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Improving the forms workflow is a powerful way for organizations to move the needle when it comes to improving process performance. These automated processes are triggered by the submission of a digital form. Then the data is guided through a series of predefined steps, eliminating manual intervention and ensuring accuracy.
DocuWare customers use web forms for everything from onboarding to contract management and order processing. DocuWare Forms enhance the efficiency of any business activity that involves collecting information from employees, customers and other outside sources. Using online forms has even more impact when they’re combined with automated workflows and integration with other business applications.
Whether it’s processing purchase requisitions, managing HR onboarding or contract management, form workflows can be an essential part of the backbone of modern business operations.
Here are a few examples:
Pace yourself: employee engagement for newbies
At a manufacturing firm, when a new hire fills out one online form and the data populates a W2, benefits enrollment, IT requests and other employment forms.
In this company, the onboarding process includes industry-related training to be completed in the first four weeks of employment. Each week, a new employee receives a form with links to online courses and other new employee information specific to that week. They complete the courses and take a test. Their score is recorded on a web form. HR receives a notification when each weekly assignment is complete, so they can follow up as necessary.
Effective treatment for contract approval headaches
Contract approval is complex at a multi-site hotel and casino group, owned and operated by a Native American community.
Some contracts need a sign-off from an outside governing body and some do not. Before implementing DocuWare Forms, contracts were processed at a central office resulting in lost time spent figuring out which approvals were needed. Now a staff member from the initiating department uses an online form to index the contract and define how it should be routed for approval..jpg?width=600&name=iStock-963811500%20(1).jpg)
Faster order turnaround
At a leasing company, all sales personnel bring tablets when visiting a customer site. They enter customer contact information, the lease term and products ordered. The customer signs the electronic form. Then this authorization kicks off a workflow that notifies the warehouse that the equipment should be shipped. The sales team is no longer traveling back and forth to the office with paperwork. And turnaround time from order to delivery is reduced from 2-3 weeks to 4 days.
Introduction to eforms
In this webinar, you'll learn how eforms streamline data capture, increase accuracy and save processing time
Ready access to information reassures employees and retirees
A pension plan’s participant website uses DocuWare Forms to give employees and retirees more control over their personal information and reduce administrative costs.
Users go online to enroll, change their profile information or the bank where their pensions are paid. Employees can also get information about what their pension would be if they retired today or in five years on demand. When digital form data is changed, it is also updated in the pension plan’s back-end system.
Best practices for building your own forms
Easily and quickly create new forms with DocuWare Forms' intuitive editor
Creating top-notch web forms is an art. With the right strategies, businesses can maximize their efficiency and simplify data-driven processes.
Here are 11 best practices to start you on your way.
1. Define your specifications: Take the time to fully define the form's goals. Make sure you know what data is needed, who the users are and all the business processes tied to the information that the form collects.
With a web form, you can gain control of any process that requires organizing information, routing it to the right people and sharing data with ERP systems or other applications.
2. Provide clear instructions: Explain the purpose of the form simply and briefly. No one wants to waste time reading large blocks of text.
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3. Explain the context: Make sure users understand why you need the information. If the form is long, break it into sections so that it’s not overwhelming.
4. Use autofill: If you’ve already collected some of the information on another form, prefill those fields or don’t show them at all.
5. Apply real-time validation: Let users know that they’ve made an error or left a field blank while they’re filling out the form, not after it’s been submitted.
6. Leverage field masks: For example, the phone number field can be set up so that it can only contain numbers 0 to 9, or a name field can only be completed by using alphabetical characters.
Field masks help the user fill out forms correctly the first time. The form is not submitted until the inputs match the mask definitions.
7. Create conditional fields: Built-in intelligence can control actions and direct form completion based on the data a user enters. For example, if you answer “yes” to a question, the form provides related details. If you answer “no,” the conditional fields do not appear to clutter screen real estate.
8. Familiarize yourself with special features: Radio buttons, checkboxes, drop down menus, calendar inputs, and file uploads enable precise and secure information capture. Text box fields give users the option to provide open-ended answers.
9. Optimize your forms for mobile use: You don’t want users to pinch and swipe to get the form to be viewable on their smartphones. Your form should be responsive and function properly on any mobile device.
10. Use automated workflow: Automated workflow will generate email reminders and task lists. So, you can be sure that your staff is notified when a completed form is sent to them for review or approval. Web forms also structure data, so that the information can initiate a business process.
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11. Close with courtesy: Include a message that politely confirms the form has been successfully completed. The message can also contain next steps.
The impact of enhanced form workflows
Enhanced form workflows have a profound impact on business operations. By automating repetitive tasks, reducing human errors and speeding up data collection, companies can focus on higher-value activities, improve collaboration across departments and increase their overall operational efficiency. In sectors like healthcare, finance, or education, where compliance and data accuracy are paramount, automated form workflows help ensure that regulatory requirements are met while maintaining the speed of business processes.
Additionally, businesses can respond more quickly to customer requests, reduce bottlenecks in internal processes, and create a more cohesive operational environment.
Form workflows are a crucial component of digital transformation, enabling businesses to optimize how they collect, manage, and process data. By using web forms and following best practices, companies can significantly enhance their workflows, improve accuracy, and speed up critical processes. This leads to measurable improvements in productivity and profitability which are essential for businesses to stay competitive.
Join thousands of DocuWare customers who now use convenient, standardized, web forms in place of outdated paper documents, hard-to-navigate PDFs, and error-prone manual data entry. To find out more, request a demo.
Editor’s note: This post has been updated for accuracy and new content has been added.
