AI-Powered eForms design: Creating powerful forms with rules and workflows has never been easier

AI-Powered eForms design: Creating powerful forms with rules and workflows has never been easier

In organizations of all types and sizes, eForms with Workflows are essential for streamlining operations, gathering data, and improving efficiency. However, one of the biggest challenges in becoming proficient at eForm design has always been creating the rules that make these forms functional, often requiring some knowledge of coding. That is until now. This post explores the benefits of using artificial intelligence to assist in creating rules for electronic forms and why this is a potential game-changer for designers of non-technical forms.

The Challenges of Traditional Rules Creation

In traditional form design, setting up rules for electronic forms, such as validation checks, conditional logic, and automated actions, involves writing code. This approach has several drawbacks for non-technical users:

  • Requires Specialized Skills: Programming demands specific training and Most department heads and managers lack these skills, necessitating reliance on IT or developers.
  • Time-Consuming: Coding rules from scratch can be time-intensive. Debugging and testing the code further add to the development time.
  • Potential for Errors: Manually written code is prone to errors, which can lead to form malfunctions and data inconsistencies.
  • Difficult to Modify: Changing or updating rules often requires modifying the code, which can be challenging for non-technical users and lead to further errors.
  • Dependency on IT: Non-technical users heavily rely on IT or developers for changes or updates to form rules, creating bottlenecks and delays.

Some solutions attempt to mitigate these drawbacks by providing pre-packaged rules that can be placed in the form through a design user interface. However, this approach is typically limited to simple rules and quickly loses usefulness as the rules’ complexity increases. Bringing you back to needing to write code to get forms to do what you want.

The AI Advantage

Artificial intelligence (AI) is quickly transforming most aspects of our daily lives. Creating rules in eForms with workflows is another example of this phenomenon. Here’s how AI helps even non-technical form designers become rules-writing wizards:

Natural Language Interface

A natural language chat interface accessible from within the forms tool allows users to create rules using simple, everyday language. Instead of writing complex code, they can describe what they want the form to do. For example, they might say, “If the ‘Students Age’ is under 18, then display the ‘Parent’ panel and enable ‘Parent Signature’.” The AI interprets this statement and automatically generates the necessary rule directly into the form.

Multiple Options for Rule Generation

AI can evaluate what is being asked by the designer and return multiple options for rules that can accomplish the task. This allows the designer to evaluate the proposed approaches and select the most applicable one for the particular form. This reduces the time and effort required to set up complex logic, ensuring consistency across forms.

Error Detection and Prevention

AI can quickly analyze rules for potential errors or conflicts, preventing malfunctions before they occur. This reduces the need for extensive testing and debugging.

Benefits of Using AI for Form Rule Creation

Here are the key benefits of using AI to assist in creating rules for electronic forms:

  • Increased Accessibility: Non-technical users can create and manage form rules without needing coding skills, empowering non-technical departments and reducing reliance on IT.
  • Faster Development: AI accelerates many aspects of rule creation, significantly reducing development time and form deployment time.
  • Reduced Errors: AI-powered rules minimize the risk of errors, ensuring accurate and reliable forms.
  • Improved Agility: Updating or modifying rules becomes easier and faster, allowing for greater flexibility and responsiveness to changing business needs.
  • Cost Savings: Reducing the need for specialized developers and minimizing errors can lead to significant cost savings.
  • Enhanced Efficiency: Streamlining rule creation and management improves operational efficiency and productivity.
Comparison Table: AI-assisted rules creation vs. Traditional Approach

 

Feature Traditional Approach (Coding) AI-Powered Approach
Skill Requirement Coding expertise required No coding expertise required
Development Time High Low
Error Rate High Low
Modification Ease Difficult Easy
IT Dependence High Low
User Accessibility Low High
Conclusion

AI is revolutionizing how we create and manage rules for electronic forms, offering significant advantages over the traditional coding approach. By leveraging AI, non-technical department heads and managers can easily set up and modify form rules, leading to increased accessibility, faster development, reduced errors, and improved agility. As AI technologies continue to evolve, the potential for automating and streamlining form processes will only grow, making it an essential tool for organizations looking to enhance the efficiency and productivity of their form design team.

dbs LiveForms™ is an excellent example of an enterprise-grade eForms with Workflows solution that is leading the industry with an AI interface to aid in the creation of form rules. dbs LiveForms combines a powerful workflow engine with an easy-to-use drag-and-drop form builder and advanced functionality, allowing designers to go from a form draft to production in minutes with no code required.

 

dbs Software & Services (dbs) is a long-standing provider of document management and process automation solutions for education and business, and the exclusive provider of Tessi Docubase® in North America.

Tessi Docubase® is an enterprise-grade modular, secure, and easy-to-use document management system that seamlessly integrates with Business Information Systems. Its secure architecture and a broad range of features make it the perfect solution for a wide range of enterprises and use cases.

dbs LiveForms, is a low-code Business Process Automation platform. Its sole focus is simplifying complex processes by automating repetitive steps – from data capture to alerts, notifications, email confirmations, and everything in between quickly, without involving a programmer.

dbs eSign is a cloud-based electronic signature solution that allows users to manage the signing process for a document, from upload to signing and sealing, from any mobile device or computer.

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