Dimension of non-trivial online forms

Non-trivial on-line forms (N-TOFs) are a type of form that we believe is becoming widely prevalent with the preference for on-line services in many areas of everyday life. We define N-TOFs as forms that are critical to the life and wellbeing of the form filler (aka user). By virtue of this, they are frequently complex in terms of structure, mechanics and content required. Forms providing access to government, financial, employment and educational services are commonly N-TOFs, depending upon the specifics of the service to which they relate. Other examples of N-TOFs include: tax forms, benefits forms, immigration forms, social housing applications, etc. The non-trivial nature of such forms principally arises from their close relationship to the quality of life of their users. A pernicious feature of service provision through NTOFs is that form design could in fact reflect a design bias that limits access to a service. Put simply, an N-TOF could by its character impair legitimate access to a service. For example there are forms that could be judged as unnecessarily complex for the user. Hence the interest in N-TOFs relates closely to the agendas of: design for all; and professional ethics. On a related matter it is evident that in N-TOFs some of their onerous elements serve as a means of user authentication. For example, having to enter comprehensive personal details is used to help confirm a user's identity. Hence an onerous or repetitive aspect of a form can be accounted for as a legitimate design choice