Transformer: a database-driven approach to generating forms for constrained interaction

Abstract

Form-based data insertion or querying is often one of the most time-consuming steps in data-driven workflows. The small screen and lack of physical keyboard in devices such as smartphones and smartwatches introduce imprecision during user input. This can lead to data quality issues such as incomplete responses and errors, increasing user input time. We present Transformer, a system that leverages the contents of the database to automatically optimize forms for constrained input settings. Our cost function models the user input effort based on the schema and data distribution. This is used by Transformer to find the user interface (UI) widget and layout with ideal input cost for each form field. We demonstrate through user studies that Transformer provides a significantly improved user experience, with up to 50% and 57% reduction in form completion time for smartphones and smartwatches respectively.