Comments on: Designing Data Collection Forms

By: Josh Walsh

Josh Walsh — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 21:22:58 +0000

Ok, come on people. Let’s not be nasty. Everyone is welcome to read and participate here without being harassed.

By: Joseph James Frantz

Joseph James Frantz — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 20:51:02 +0000

Who the hell is this Danny Sedor guy. I read this blog all the time, and it’s delightful. Then I get to the end and the comments by this bot ruin it. I mean I swear to christ this guy posts on every page! WTF.

By: Danny Sedor

Danny Sedor — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 20:36:46 +0000

Excellent Post. I all-to-often find myself in “Data Collection Mode” as Josh has described above. It’s easy to ignore the standard. Thanks Josh!

By: Josh Walsh

Josh Walsh — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 20:23:20 +0000

What does the form for changing/editing data look like in your second example?
Joe F.

It’s kind of a mix of inline and some page changes. Depends on the context, and I think will be quite intuitive. I’ll post more when I have more to show.

By: Bridget Stewart

Bridget Stewart — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 19:40:46 +0000

Excellent article. Really fits with what we were discussing last night about processes for establishing an intuitive user interface. Good read!

By: Joe F.

Joe F. — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 19:11:24 +0000

First off, awesome article man! What little form design I’ve had to do in the past, I always try to think of logical ways of grouping/laying out the data. Makes it much easier to navigate the form and easier for the user to know what goes where.

What does the form for changing/editing data look like in your second example? Is it all edit-in-place or is there a separate page for that? I’d be interested in seeing that!

By: Josh Walsh

Josh Walsh — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 19:08:23 +0000

I despise forms that don’t tell me the format they need (or need a ridiculous format) – when I know full well that they could format the incoming data to their needs.
Nate Klaiber

I couldn’t agree more. Things like improper formatting on phone numbers which fail validation drive me bonkers. A whole post in itself.

Thanks for reading.

By: Nate Klaiber

Nate Klaiber — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 18:59:54 +0000

Excellent article! I think too many people get caught up in the ‘scaffolding’ stage that they forget to think about how people actually interact with their data. If you are constantly thinking CRUD, then you are limiting yourself.

I think it goes even beyond just the basic crud and associations, but how you can gather and smart format the data without getting in the way of the user. I despise forms that don’t tell me the format they need (or need a ridiculous format) – when I know full well that they could format the incoming data to their needs.

I agree with what you have said 110%.

By: Dana Kashubeck

Dana Kashubeck — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 18:07:26 +0000

Great post. I’m actually in this process all the time, as data gathering is the main function of the company I work for. I’m still learning, but I am totally beginning to see that our forms are all wrong.

We, too, generally look at the data, the fields, and logical groupings. I’m learning to look at it from the user’s standpoint and rework the forms to fit the user’s process.

I loved seeing the pic of the whiteboard. So often you see the end result and hear the reasons for the decisions made, but you rarely get a glimpse at the process to get there. This is what I am really interested in. I hope you post more.