The new form requires twelve answers, yet the receiving team still cannot decide whether the work is ready. Required fields should establish the conditions for assessment or admission into a service. A completed form is not proof that the answers are sufficient or that delivery has been accepted.
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Design the form around one request type first. Queue routing and prioritisation belong in the wider intake process; this task is deciding which information the form must obtain and what happens when it is unsuitable.
Give each required field a reason
For every proposed field, identify the decision it supports, who can reasonably provide it and how the answer will be checked. If the information already exists in an authoritative record, a suitable reference may be better than another manual copy.
Do not require a requester to invent technical effort or choose an internal owner they cannot know. Ask for the outcome and relevant evidence, then let the authorised reviewer assess the work.
Use a field-design card
Record:
Field meaning and an example of an acceptable answer.
Request types for which the field is relevant.
Whether it is required, optional or conditionally required.
Format checks and separate content checks.
Treatment of unknown or contradictory information.
Person responsible for resolving a failed admission check.
A date in the correct format can still lack a meaningful reason. A file attachment can still be the wrong version. Separate simple validation from the judgement needed to admit the request.
Build a conditional example
In an illustrative internal reporting service, every request needs its intended audience and decision. A recurring pack asks for the reporting period and current template reference. A new analysis request also needs the question being investigated and the available source material.
The requester sees the relevant branch rather than every possible field. If the source is not yet available, the form records that gap and directs the request for assessment instead of encouraging an invented answer.
Test refusal and correction as well as submission
Try an empty required answer, a plausible but unsuitable answer and an inaccessible source link. Check that the requester understands what to correct and that incomplete work reaches a named owner where manual review is appropriate.
Related guidance: practical process-mapping guide.
Review which questions still create clarification and which answers never influence a decision. Limit personal and confidential information to the approved purpose and channel. Hili Consulting can help design forms that establish usable admission conditions without turning every request into unnecessary administration.
