Scanning applications to PDF or one textarea is paperless, not electronic forms. Three months later "most common reason" needs human reading. Field design on launch day decides analyzability: options over free text, codes over aliases, split fields over remarks. Governance later costs another full capture.
Electronic value is not less paper—it is every cell becoming countable later.
Define Analysis Questions Before Launch
Write three sentences you must answer in three months—e.g., which type most, average duration, first-pass rate. Derive fields: type, reason code, start/end, result. Remarks only for true exceptions. Required fields ruthlessly—but on analysis fields, not twenty unrelated red stars.
- Enums maintained in master data—no everyone writes "other."
- Separate date and time for duration math.
- Attachments do not replace structured fields—photos are not reason codes.
Changing Fields Changes Process
Field changes may break history series—first version lean; versions numbered on change. The XYN digital intelligence system treats form fields as master-data extension—stats live on the process. Paper to screen with essay fields finishes half of digitization—the harder half.
Ask what to analyze, then draw cells. Draw cells before print—or electronic locks bad design for ten years.
