Many people are fed up with having to do their paperwork on paper, they would prefer digital forms. Those can be created with low-code.

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Does that sound familiar? An application form needs to be filled out. Of course, one page is not the end of it. Often times, such a form entails many pages – this takes up a lot of time and is rather annoying. The same is true for office work: Way too often we are dealing with complicated excel tables or word documents.

Paper may not blush, but  many people are seeing red when application processes take too long. Filling out everything, bagging it, taking it to the post office or the respective authority – nowadays, we like to avoid that. The same applies for enterprise-internal processes, e.g. the recording of machine errors, maintenance processes with checklists or repair instructions. Doing all of this maually is far too complex and in no way state-of-the-art.

Chatbots on the rise

So, what are th alternatives? Many enterprises and authorities are starting to use chatbots. The Simplifier hometown of Würzburg uses the “Würzbot” (german) to offer its citizens all the necessary services in a digital fashion. Duesseldorf uses the chatbot “Ask Düsseldorf” (german). And “Kora” (german) answers all the citizens´ questions in Heidenhem.

Nevertheless, digital forms in particular are becoming more and more popular, as they can be used very efficiently and the error rate in manual transmission can be reduced significantly. For example by providing certain pre-selection values (postcodes, city, address, etc.) or a validity check. Not to forget the popular handling via tablet.

Advantages of digital forms

We all can relate: Paperwork is annoying. Not to mention the costs for paper. So, let´s get rid of it – and start using digital forms!

What are the advantages, you ask? By using digital forms:

  • the environment can be protected
  • both money and time can be saved, as the processing of data can be done way faster
  • data is administrated a lot more securely

In addition to that, errors in data processing are being reduced drastically.

Creating a digital form with low-code

Since in the case of digital forms, the required data is extracted directly from the respective business process, there are considerably more possibilities in terms of form design (german). A pure digital copy of the paper original should be avoided. Instead, the effort should be made and a new individual solution created which makes the paper-based form obsolete: This way, considerably more data can be queried, there is no space limitation, step-by-step instructions for the completed form are possible. In short: Everything can be filled out, signed digitally (optional) and sent.

But: Isn’t such a creation costly and complex? Not necessarily. With a low-code platform such as Simplifier, it is very easy. Simply assemble your desired form in a configurable way:

  • Create an interface with data entry fields, selection boxes and navigation elements (buttons)
  • Integrate the existing system for data exchange
  • Display the processes and link them with the screen functions
  • Test your applications with the WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor and Live Preview
  • Publish the application

In this way, data tailored to individual needs can be recorded and processed – not only for existing forms, but also for work orders, handover protocols or even leave applications.

If required, texts and numbers can also be recorded with the camera of your own smartphone, saved directly and signed digitally. The latter in particular represents an enormous added value. This data can then be sent automatically via e-mail. In addition, there is also optional support for connecting to other systems that are used in many companies, such as SAP or Sharepoint.

Another advantage: A digital form created with low-code is always adjustable and extendable. If you should realize that your form is in need of a change or does no longer serve its original purpose to the fullest extent, you can change it – without having to code.

Conclusion

Are you considering to primarily record data of any kind digitally in the future and offer it as a form on your company website? Would you like to do without the paper process in order to optimize processes and increase customer and employee satisfaction, but have not found the right approach yet? If possible, you no longer want to use cumbersome Excel tables or Word documents to capture important data? Then you should think about creating digital forms quickly and easily.

With the help of low-code platforms you can do this now and get results faster.

With Simplifier, you can create such forms very easily – and work with your IT department to integrate them into the necessary systems, test the application and make them available for use in a timely manner. This saves your customers and yourself a lot of time and nerves, as well as additional costs.

By making digital forms available, you provide your customers with a significantly better user experience: data capture is much faster than before, the error rate is reduced by 70% and everything is 100% free of media breaks.

In addition, the forms created on this basis can be expanded at any time and adapted to new requirements. If you would like to know how something like this could look like, take a look at our Digital Form application example.