Logical Form Navigation
The Recipient of The Form
More times than not, a form is designed with the person who is
to receive the form in mind, not the person who is filling
out (or in) the form. In a way, this type of design makes sense because
the person reading/reviewing the form will then know, geographically,
where to go to find specific information, without having to read through
the entire form. Important data can be positioned in prominent places.
This design increases the assimilation factor for the reader of
the form. That is, the Case# for a particular form can always be found
in the upper left.
However, this criteria means a form will LIKELY NOT have speed of
entering the data as focus of its original design. Data may be placed
in any order or at any place — without regard to its impact on
entering the data. Data may be grouped in any
way — or not. The form itself is a means to begin to
assimilate the raw data within it. The form's geography, with
its prominent data in prominent places, generally takes precedence over
any logical order that may be assist in the data gathering process.
To overcome any speed penalties that the designed order of a form exerts on its speedy completion, MultiForm adds a "Logical Path" through the form, accessible by the [Enter] key.
Enter Key Special Behavior
Pressing the either [Enter] key or the [Tab] key will move you to the next field.
However pressing the [Enter] key will move you to the next logical field.
In an Appraisal form with a columnar grid, say, it is
much more logical to focus on a single comp's data rather than jumping back and forth
between comps. That is, is makes more sense, and is speedier, to move down the
Comparables column of data.
The illustration below shows part of the path that the [Enter] key will take through this form.
Example of Logical Path via Enter Key
Such a path as illustrated here follows a logical path through the completion of the form – which in this case in down the Comp 1 column. Other paths can be obtained via the [Tab] key which will move left-to-right top-to-bottom, via the arrow keys, or by the mouse.
Logical Form Navigation
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