How many forms is too many

Forms multiply easily and cost more than they look. A working rule for when to add one, and what to do instead.

Forms multiply easily and cost more than they look. A working rule for when to add one, and what to do instead.

What a form costs

• A choice for the customer before they have explained anything.
• A place fields can hide. Every form is somewhere a field might not be, and that is the most common configuration puzzle there is.
• Maintenance. A new field has to be added to each form that needs it. Six forms means six places to remember.
• Reporting complexity. Comparing across forms is harder than comparing within one.

The rule

Add a form when the questions differ. Do not add one when only the team differs.

Different questions: a return needs an order number, a fault needs a device and a version. Different team, same questions: that is a group and a routing rule, not a form.

Try these first

• Conditional fields. One form that expands for the cases that need it.
• A better first question. Often one well-phrased drop-down replaces three forms.
• Routing on the answers. Send it to the right team based on what they told you.

How many is too many

Zendesk allows 300, counting the standard forms and every custom one you add. Take that as the size of the rope rather than a target.

Publicly, three or four is where customers stop reading. Internally you can carry more, because agents learn them, but every form you cannot explain the purpose of is one to retire.

See also

• Conditional ticket fields
• Designing a form that helps agents and customers both
• Planning your routing configuration