Article published In:
Information Design JournalVol. 5:1 (1986) ► pp.43–59
On the organisation of form-filling behaviour
Given the ubiquity of transactional forms it is surprising that so little is known about the dynamics of the form-filling activity itself This paper reports a detailed observational study of the reading and routing activities of subjects as they filled in a DHSS postal claim form. The results of this study suggest a number of broad principles which appear to govern the interaction of subjects with the written material of the form. The local application of these principles in the context of a form-filling history can account for idiosyncrasies in form-filling behaviour. This interpretation is consistent with the view that form-fillers employ a conversational model of form-filling, despite the static nature of the paper medium through which it is conducted.
Cited by (12)
Cited by 12 other publications
Sless, David
Sless, David
Gillespie, Alex & Helen Moore
2016. Translating and Transforming Care. Qualitative Health Research 26:4 ► pp. 532 ff. 
Esbester, Mike
2011. Taxing Design? Design and Readers in British Tax Forms Before 1914. Design Issues 27:3 ► pp. 84 ff.
Stiff, Paul, Paul Dobraszczyk & Mike Esbester
2011. Designing and Gathering Information: Perspectives on Nineteenth-Century Forms. In Information History in the Modern World, ► pp. 57 ff.
Dobraszczyk, Paul
2009. ‘Give in your account’: Using and Abusing Victorian Census Forms. Journal of Victorian Culture 14:1 ► pp. 1 ff.
Neutelings, Rob & Henk Pander Maat
1997. Investigating the Processes of Reading-to-Assess among Dutch Legislators. Journal of Literacy Research 29:1 ► pp. 47 ff.
Jansen, Carel & Michaël Steehouder
1992. Forms as a Source of Communication Problems. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication 22:2 ► pp. 179 ff.
Frohlich, David & Paul Luff
1989. Some Lessons From an Exercise in Specification. Human-Computer Interaction 4:2 ► pp. 121 ff.
[no author supplied]
1990. References. In Computers and Conversation, ► pp. 263 ff.
[no author supplied]
1991. BIBLIOGRAPHY. In Knowledge-Based Systems and Legal Applications, ► pp. 343 ff.
[no author supplied]
1998. Artefacts of conversations: bills and organizations. In Visual Information For Everyday Use, ► pp. 199 ff.
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