Wufoo

Have you ever wanted to set up an online form for data collection?  It looks so easy.  All you have to do is create a few input boxes, submit them to your server and then write a little code to show you the results. 

Reality is much more painful.  In particular, users find a multitude of ways to enter their information in formats you didn't anticipate.  Using the collected data intelligently often requires complicated backend logic.

Worst of all, the people who need the form are probably not experienced form designers themselves, don't know how to design good forms, and don't understand the variety of input formats available or where to use them. 

The unlucky programmer handed the job of coding this is in big trouble.  They probably know little or nothing about the environment where the form will be used and don't have the knowledge needed to make a form that works with the user, not against them. 

Generally there is a meeting where the existing paper form is discussed and the programmer sets off to duplicate that online.  Paper is not the same and this approach does not work well.

Wufoo is a startup company which is attempting to make the online form creation process easy enough for anyone to use. Their system is easy to use and lets anyone create reasonable online forms quickly.  I think it has huge value as a prototyping tool. 

Since it is easy to use, a person who will actually be using the completed form to enter data online can build the form and test it.  Since changes are easy, testing become an iterative process that quickly results in a very functional form.  At that point a programmer can be brought in to write backend logic. 

Wufoo is very new and adding features as fast as they can.  The data validation is weak and getting the collected dataout of the system is not as easy as it will be.  However, in my opinion, the prototyping benefits are so large it is worth it for them alone.

I am using Wufoo on several projects, and will continue to post comments as the product develops.