A well-designed form with clearly stated captions should be self-instructing. In a recent consulting job, an eight-page procedure included two pages telling how to fill out the printed forms. A sample of the instructions is as follows:
The first form had 29 captions. The procedure listed the captions and explained the information required under each. Much of this work would have been eliminated if the captions were self-explanatory.
Forms such as application blanks that are filled out once should be self instructing. Other forms (e.g., purchase orders) that are processed repeatedly by several people should be designed for easy writing, typing, and sorting. A form becomes self-instructing by means of clearly stated captions and brief, but specific, procedural instructions. The following examples illustrate these points.
The procedural instructions on the form should be self-explanatory-for example, "Enclose your stub with your payment."
Instructions are placed on the cover of padded forms or in the stub area of snap-out forms. Some forms have instructions on the back. A notation on the front upper left corner of the page tells the user where to find the instructions.
No comments:
Post a Comment