Forms are used to capture data.

• Paper based forms are completed by hand and then the data can be transferred to a computer.
• Computer based forms input the data directly into a computer.

Features of a well designed form:

• Heading - this makes the purpose of the form clear to the person completing it.
• Question prompts - these labels make it clear what is to be entered at each stage.
• Marked response areas - these make it clear where the response is filled in.

  Text Boxes - these help to limit the length of the response.
  Character Boxes - these strictly limit the length of the response.
  Formatted Character Boxes - these further limit the possible responses
  Tick Boxes - these further limit the possible responses as well as speeding up data entry and making processing easier.

Computer-based screen forms:

All of the above features apply equally to paper and screen forms.  Screen forms can have the following additional features:

• Drop-down list boxes and combo boxes to speed up text entry and reduce errors.

• Radio buttons where only one option can be selected.

• Tick boxes which can be selected with a single mouse click.

• Control buttons such as RESET FORM, CLEAR FORM, CONFIRM and SAVE etc.
• Validation rules to check the data that is entered is sensible.
• Double-entry boxes with verification rules to check crucial data such as email addresses are entered correctly.