Best Practice for Forms?

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1

Hi Everyone

What is the best way to collect data from your web site users?

The scenario;

User visits a site offering a service tuned to the users needs, in this case business advice, banking, accounting, investment etc. To offer that advice the user must provide information on the business activity etc. Normally this would be done by some kind of form.

Is it better (user experience, security, development cost complexity-wise to have the form in:

  1. A downloadable pdf format that can be completed offline and when completed the user clicks a submit button which sends the data to the collecting web site?
  2. A form hosted on the web site with both browser side and server side validation via javascript ?
  3. A form that is emailed to the user which they then complet and email back?
  4. None of the above - why not try this - add your personal preference here?

I am wondering what best practices exist, industry standards expressed or implied or what web site developers have found to be the pro’s and con’s of the above approaches.

Appreciate the help, thanks.

2

I think that #2 is the safest and the easiest one.

3

Thanks WebIntellects for the reply could you expand on why you think that?

4

The web is pretty much designed around this concept, so unless you have something specific in mind, I would say that it scores highest on all of your requirements.

The only scenarios where I could see one of the other mechanisms make sense would be if you already have an existing (physical) form that people can fill out manually. But even then, I would say that the benefit would mostly be that it was easier for you to implement, rather than giving a better product.