
Chapter 14 n IQ Applied to Document & Knowledge Management 685
Manual Form Design Checklist
Follow this checklist for a well-structured form.
6
Get feedback from Knowledge Workers across the Enterprise who need the
Information collected by the form:
What decisions depend on the Information in this form? ;
How much does it cost you when one of these decisions goes wrong
;
because of misinformation?
What facts do these decisions hinge on? ;
What other facts are unnecessary? ;
If problems strike, what facts do you need to make a quick recovery? ;
In what areas do you need some extra space for exceptions, special cases,
;
or special needs stories?
Can you streamline the form, and avoid confusion from bad handwriting,
;
by turning a form with questions into a checklist?
Now select a focus group of Customers or Information Producers who will
be filling out the form. Ask:
Which of these facts come easily to mind and can be written down without
;
difficulty or error?
What order do they naturally arrange these facts in? (How does this cor- ;
respond to the order in which your staff wants to read the facts off the
form?)
Which facts fit into the same amount of space every time? Which vary
;
significantly?
Which responses seem hard to recall or look up? (Does your staff really ;
need these? Can your staff stand the potential errors in this area?)
Where would these people need extra space for comments? And ...