A form is the start of the work
Most organizations have hundreds of forms: PDFs on an intranet page, Word documents emailed back and forth, paper in a tray. Each one collects information that already exists somewhere else, asks every question whether it applies or not, and ends in someone’s inbox. Whatever happens next, such as routing, checking, re-keying or approving, is done by hand.
A form builder that only produces nicer forms doesn’t change that. The value is in what the form knows before it opens and what happens after someone clicks submit.
What a connected form does
It fills in what’s known. Name, department, manager and cost center come from Workday or Active Directory. A list of software comes from the license system, and a list of buildings from the facilities system, so the options are current.
It asks only what applies. Choose “contractor” and the end-date and sponsor fields appear. Choose a cost over the threshold and the budget justification appears.
It checks before it sends. Required fields, valid dates, attachments present, and checks against your systems such as remaining budget or eligibility.
It starts the work. Submission begins a workflow: approvals by rule, data written to the systems that need it, the submitter told what’s happening.
U.S. Army INSCOM
INSCOM’s recruiting process for special operations roles started with an 85-page PDF. Candidates printed it, filled it in by hand and returned it. Recruiters checked it manually, chased missing pages and re-entered the data into several internal systems, spending about 25 hours a week on administration.
Kinetic replaced the packet with a guided digital application that collects data once and carries it through screening and routing. The portal uses CAC authentication in a DoD IL5 environment. Recruiters now spend about 12.5 hours a week on administration and process the same number of applicants in half the time. Read the INSCOM case study.
Where to start
Start with the form that generates the most re-keying, not the longest one. Once it is connected, the same connections serve the next form. Forms are the front end of most service request management, and in defense organizations the DD-2875 is a common early candidate. The experience layer page shows how forms and portals are built.