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Articles

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Judging forms

15 Jul 2008

Judging a form is about making an assessment of quality, usefulness and/or suitability.

Many people judge forms just by looking at them. This article demonstrates why this method of judging is lacking and suggests alternative approaches.

A beginner's guide to forms security

11 Jun 2008

Here in Australia, 6 - 13 June 2008 is National E-Security Awareness Week. It seems like an apt time, therefore, for us to provide an overview of some key security issues for electronic forms, particularly those on the Web.

What is an electronic form?

01 May 2008

We all know what a paper form is, partly because they've been around for an awfully long time. Electronic forms, on the other hand, are relatively new. Consequently, there is still plenty of confusion about what exactly an electronic form is.

Is electronic form synonymous with entering data using a computer? Does it include forms that are filled out on the Web? What if the form is just a snapshot of an existing paper form?

In this article, we explore the spectrum of different electronic form types and present a useful framework for describing just what is an electronic form.

Process

17 Mar 2008

When people hear the term “form design”, they usually think about graphics and layout or questions and answers. What they don't often think about is the process around the form.

The process, however, is pivotal as it influences the design of every part of the form.

This article explores the analysis of process, including the importance of documenting the information need.

The 4 layers of a form

22 Feb 2008

Need to design a form and can't get past that blank piece of paper or screen? Maybe you've been charged with reviewing an existing form and you don't know where to start.

This article describes a way in which a form or questionnaire can be broken up into individual layers, making the design and review process easier and more efficient.

What makes a good form?

16 Jan 2008

So you have a form, and you want to make it 'good'. Where do you start?

In this article we present a simple model for assessing the quality of a form.

Design of a healthcare form

08 Nov 2007

Today, 8 November 2007, is World Usability Day.

This year's theme is Healthcare, so we're having a look at the usability of new patient questionnaires.

You might be surprised to learn how many problems we encountered in such a relatively simple and common form.

The name riddle

04 Sep 2007

Practically every form asks the form-filler to provide their name. What seems like a relatively straightforward question actually turns out to be quite complicated. Learn what the complications are and how to deal with them in this, our latest article.

Reporting importance

04 Aug 2007

In this article we explore the ways to report importance data from direct measures, and also consider an alternative way to indirectly measure importance.

Untangling importance

22 Jul 2007

There's often a need to measure importance. For example, a government body may want to measure what services are most important to the public. Knowing the relative importance of different options helps with prioritising resource expenditure.

However, measuring importance accurately is, a little more difficult than it might sound. In this article we explore the best ways to make such measurements.