The perfect form nobody built
A help desk wants the best form ever. Drop-down menus, pre-filled boxes, checks on every box.
But the team has two weeks, nobody who has built a form, and 300 new tickets a day. The best form on paper may be the wrong form in practice. This lesson is about choosing well.
By the end of this lesson
Note
I can weigh time and skills to choose a way to reduce entry errors.
Key words
| Word | What it means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Screen | The form or page a user types into. | A ticket form |
| Expertise | The skill and knowledge to do a job well. | Knowing how to build forms |
| Implement | To build something and put it into use. | Build the new form |
| Data quality | How accurate, complete and useful data is. | Right tags, no gaps |
| Suitable | Right for the job and the people doing it. | A form the team can build |
| Validation | A check that input is sensible and allowed. | Four digits only |
| Trade-off | Giving up one good thing to get another. | Fast build, fewer checks |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
Starter: what you already know
Have a go
Starter: what you already know
3 questionsHave a go: your answers are marked here and then forgotten. Sign in if you would like your score kept, and to pick up where you left off.Sign in to keep your score
Your answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.
Three things that limit data entry
Three factors decide how entry can be built.
- Time to create the screens. Every form, menu and check must be designed, built and tested.
- Expertise to create the screens. Somebody must know how. A badly built check can block good data.
- Time to enter the data. Every extra step slows the people typing, and slow forms get skipped or rushed.
Worked example: cost of two designs
| Plain form with double entry | Form with menus and checks | |
|---|---|---|
| Hours to build | 4 | 24 |
| Skills needed | Basic | Form building and testing |
| Seconds to enter one ticket | 60 | 30 |
| Minutes for 300 tickets a day | 300 | 150 |
| Errors | More slips likely | Fewer slips likely |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
Check: which factor?
Have a go
Check: which factor?
3 questionsHave a go: your answers are marked here and then forgotten. Sign in if you would like your score kept, and to pick up where you left off.Sign in to keep your score
Your answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.