Mobile Forms vs Desktop Forms - Pros & Cons of Each Form Type

Why choose Digital Forms?

Digital forms have reduced effort, time, and difficulty levels by 10x ratios. We must also consider how sustainability has taken over our lives with a blissful whip and how these digital forms have proved to be the best way for businesses to save paper and replace the traditional methods of drafting, printing, and collecting data physically. Digital forms effortlessly capture information in real-time to assist in the immediate review of the data collected. In the next segment let us cover the benefits of digital forms and justify how they have made our lives efficient and simpler.

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Major benefits of Digital Forms

1. Supports any work situation - these forms are designed to be readily accessed as well as assessed by individuals while working from home, in remote-area, in office cabins, or while on the move.
2. Cost-effective and efficient - digital forms incur almost no cost as compared to paper forms where the cost of drafting, printing, and distributing is levied along with labor charges as well hence decreasing the effort of the individuals involved. 
3. User-friendly - these forms are created in a way to duplicate how paper forms appear so that it streamlines the interpretation and process for the user.
4. Timesaving- digital forms take far less time to be filled by the user as compared to the extensive time-taking process involved in paper forms due to fieldwork.
5. Real-time access to data - as the data is collected in real-time it is shared immediately with others in the team for quick analysis, authorization, and data interpretation.
6. Access to additional information - digital forms are self-sufficient as the user can add any extra information like images, videos, documents, etc directly to the form. The hassle of additional documentation is eliminated.  

Mobile Forms vs Desktop Forms - Comparison with Example

To access these digital forms the user has two options,  either they use their desktop or their mobile phones. Before we proceed, let us consider two situations, one where a delivery person has to deliver a parcel and take an online signature on the delivery form from the customer, in this situation a form on the mobile phone would be extremely handy whereas if we reverse the same scenario where the customer wants to view their delivery form in detail to check all the aspects mentioned then it would be ideal for them to open the form on the desktop. Hence, there is no right or wrong way to go about it but it depends on the prerequisites of the user.

Let us now hop on to discuss the pros and cons of both alternatives:

1. Availability of screen space (Higher in desktops and lower in mobile phones) - Desktops have a wider screen to view the forms clearly as compared to smartphones. Wider screen space also entitles the user to navigate the form comfortably.
2. Swapping between multiple tabs (Higher in desktops and lower in mobile phones) - Desktops make it easier to swap between multiple tabs to refer and get back to the form whereas the same option is slightly taxing and inefficient on a user's smartphone. 
3. Addition of media to forms (Higher on mobile phones and lower on desktops) - Through smartphones users can easily add images, voice notes, screenshots, or videos whereas adding the same through desktop is a tedious task.
4. Efficiency (Higher in mobile phones and lower in desktops) - It is easier to work on a keyboard through the desktop rather than on a keypad on the mobile phone, making the job of filling the form smooth and more efficient for the user through the desktop.
5. Depending upon the external elements (Higher in desktops and lower in mobile phones) - On a desktop, you have a mouse to navigate the cursor easily on the screen whereas a mobile phone does not give you this option making screen navigation problematic.
6. Depending upon Adaptability (Higher on desktops and lower on mobile phones) - All online forms designed by businesses are desktop-friendly whereas some of them are not aligned to work on a mobile phone. 
7. Depending upon Accessibility (Higher in mobile phones and lower in desktops)- Mobile phones are considered more accessible as far as productivity is concerned including remote area accessibility when compared to desktops. Forms filled on mobile phones require a desk-free scenario and can be easily converted into PDFs and shared instantly for data analysis.

Once you have determined your need for mobile/desktop forms you should also read how single page forms are different from multipage forms and when you should use them.

Conclusion

While mobile forms and desktop forms are both digital forms that can be filled offline/online, their functions differ from one another. The user decides to choose which way they would prefer after careful consideration of the pros and cons of both types. This would help them boost efficiency, save time and deliver results as per their requirements. Head onto Formester to help you with a step-by-step guide on drafting a form for your needs.