People fill out forms every day, from ordering food to applying for much-needed human services. In the public sector, the questions we choose to ask people carry a lot of responsibility as well as potential vulnerabilities. Our team has been trying to get clarity on when to ask who for what.

• Sharing personally identifiable information exposes everyone to a range of risks and requiring some fields like SSN might deny some folks services that they need.

• Many forms ask for sensitive information, such as race and gender, without telling applicants how the information will be used, leading to ambiguity and a fear of bias.

• Some information, such as someone's current housing status or income level, can be triggering and could stress a user to the point where they drop out of a process that was meant to help.

Here are some resources that we found helpful when we were trying to understand how to approach more ethical and inclusive forms.

Only ask for what you need

Having a clear and repeatable question protocol will help stakeholders, policymakers and content creators align on what information you need. Clearleft write-up by Richard Rutter on question protocols outlines the major things you should be asking, including: why do we need this information, who will have access to this information, what are the privacy implications, and is there another way to get this information?

Keep it simple with conditionals

If you need to ask for specific information, you can structure questions so they are as easy to answer as possible. For example, many services only require some details based on certain conditions. You can do the work to set up your forms to use conditional logic to only ask questions based on previous answers, requiring the least amount of effort for each user. GOV.UK provides excellent form design standards and usability guidance.

Be mindful of sensitive questions

You’ll want to consider the specific needs of your audience to determine if the questions will trigger an emotional or stressful response. In addition to demographic information, utilize research to understand life events such as divorce, bereavement, job loss, immigration status, and unstable housing and how they affect your applicant's state of mind. Consider allowing users to save their progress, opt out of questions, and apply by proxy as needed. Trauma-informed design practitioners such as Rachael Dietkus, LCSW have a wealth of knowledge in this area.

I hope these resources can be helpful to your team as well and provide you with some insights on how to deliver thoughtful and equitable experiences for everyone.