Yet another homework post
As per part of my production design homework, I’m going to be talking about forms! Because absolutely everyone loves forms!
One of the things that is important about forms is that the receiver gets all the necessary information. That way, they don’t have to call you up at 10pm asking questions about the design. The same thing could be said, really, for job applications, resumes, and things of the like.
The benefit of the rising amount of technology, also, means that these forms can be done all through the internet. A simple exchange of information from the comfort of your own home. The communication process that follows is highly dependent upon the information in the form. Many forms these days are being trashed for online forms, too.
A fine example of that would be the process of registering events for a club at Eastern Washington University. Just two years ago, they wanted everything done through paperwork that had to be signed by your club’s advisor and all that give. Here, take a look at the old Off Campus Event Registration form (which I still apparently have a copy of in my Gamers Club files):
Here is a screenshot of a snipet from the current event registration on Orgsync:
Forms over the years have definitely improved. Let’s look at some Magic: The Gathering prerelease sign up sheets from the EWU Gamers Club before I got involved and then after I became president.
The first image is the way the events used to be documented. The officers before me would highlight which event the person was paying for, if they were a EWU Gamers Club card holder, and all sorts of other information.
When I took over, having some disabilities, that form confused the heck out of me. I needed to create a new system to make it easier on me and the other people working in the EWU Bookstore (who take all the money and the like). That’s where the second picture comes in. The second picture is just that. All I need to know is their name, their contact number, and if they are a member or not (which is marked with an M in the last column). Now, the prices are only $25 or $24 for members. And they only get on that list if they have paid. So, if there is no M, I will know they paid $25 instead of $24. And there is a set of papers for each individual event instead of having them all on the same one.
Overall, I believe that forms are a vital part of our existence nowadays. It is definitely best to go digital for your clients or for you to send to your designer and THEN worry about a physical backup. I hope this was in no way stressful to you at all and that you learned something from it! Forms are complicated and sometimes people make huge messes out of them when they can really be simple.