Tips for good form design

A well-designed form should be fast and efficient to fill out in the field. This topic describes how to best use the settings in the Template Editor to maximize efficient data collection or data update.

Data collection

• Use consistent naming for field names and value options.

  Linking or duplicating existing forms will help keep things consistent between forms and workspaces. See Adding form templates.

• Add Autofields instead of duplicating them with your own fields.

  Autofields are automatically completed when the form is saved in the field, without requiring any interaction from the user. See Autofield types.

• Where possible, use Choice fields or Yes/No fields rather than Text fields.

  Selecting options is faster and less prone to error than entering text on a mobile device. See Choice field.

• Set Number fields to automatically increment or decrement from the previously entered number.

• Set fields that must be filled out to Required so that a warning appears in the TerraFlex software if a required field is not filled out.

  This setting saves time so the field user doesn't have to spend time checking all fields are filled out before sending the form to the office.

• Add rules so that fields that are only applicable if previous fields have certain values will only appear as needed.

  Using rules means that forms contain only relevant fields, and important information is not overlooked.

• Use groups and page headers to organize related fields together on the form.

  Fields that appear in a logical order are faster to fill out. Using groups and page headers also means some settings can be set at the group or page level which makes form setup faster in the Template Editor.

• Try to keep required fields near the top of the form or page. Fields that are optional can appear further down.

  Having to scroll through a long form or tab through several pages to get to the last Required field can be frustrating in the field.

• Enable Repeating fields so that subsequent forms can start with values automatically filled out from the previously collected form.

  You can set any field to Repeat values. Use the Repeating Fields options in the Template tab of the Template Editor to set repeating fields to repeat automatically or prompt for user confirmation. Use the Repeat field check box on a field's properties dialog to repeat the last used value for the field in the next instance of the form.

Data update

• For each field that must be filled out or updated, click the Mandatory button so that a warning appears in the TerraFlex software if a required field is not filled out.

  This setting saves time so the field user doesn't have to spend time checking all fields are filled out before sending the form to the office.

• For fields that must not be changed, click the Read-only button so that they are locked and cannot be updated.

  This setting prevents the unnecessary changing of information, but still makes the information in the fields available to the field user to help them identify the correct asset.