Best Practice for Request Form with 30+ variables

[Jon Collins2]

Hi Folks, we have a stakeholder requesting a catalog item built, with more than 30 questions/variables that would need to be filled in by the submitter. Our developers are advising that this many variables is not a best practice (e.g. performance issues), and we should consider alternative options for this unique case. 

How are other teams handling request forms with this many questions/variables? Would it be better to have end-users complete a PDF form, attach, and submit via request form?

Thanks in advance for your help on this one. 

[Arav · Accepted solution]

Hi,

A few things to consider.

a. Are all of these variables independent of each other ? For instance, can some of these be combined as sub options (check boxes or radio options) under a single variable ?

b. Have you considered hiding and displaying only those that are needed based on the preliminary options selected ?

c. While having 30 variables is not uncommon, the lesser the better for all purposes. I wouldn't advise doing these on PDF as that defeats the whole purpose of using ServiceNow.

Thanks,

Arav