Simtops Launches 'Field Form Design Department' to 'Scientifically Pursue Usability' of Field Forms; Nagano University Professor Yoshiharu Yoshitake Appointed as External Advisor

While the movement to digitize paper-based field forms is rapidly expanding, particularly in the manufacturing sector, a new question has emerged: 'Even though we have digitized, are these forms truly user-friendly for the workers on the ground?'

Simtops, provider of Japan's top-market-share field reporting system 'i-Reporter' (Headquarters: Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo; CEO: Kazuyuki Okuhata), launched the 'Field Form Design Department,' a specialized team that scientifically pursues the 'usability' of field forms. The first kickoff meeting was held on May 29, 2026, during the 'Field Form Kaizen Department 2nd Anniversary Grand Meeting.' Additionally, Professor Yoshiharu Yoshitake of the Faculty of Collaborative Information Sciences at Nagano University, a leading expert in Human-Centered Design (HCD) and usability research, has been appointed as an external advisor to the department.

This initiative aims to organize and publish field form design insights—which have not been systematized until now—as 'reproducible knowledge,' serving companies that use field forms beyond the scope of i-Reporter.

Why 'Design Field Forms' Now? Field forms are used for daily recording tasks in various fields such as manufacturing, food, construction, and infrastructure. They are used by a diverse range of people regardless of nationality, age, or IT literacy. However, despite their widespread use, UI/UX and design principles have not been sufficiently applied to their input layouts. While international standards regarding form usability (such as ISO 9241-143) and general knowledge of form UI/UX and design exist, public knowledge systematizing 'how to design for usability' specifically for 'digitized field forms' used in these industries was limited and fragmented as of May 2026, according to our research. Because the premises for input (terminal, screen, operation) differ significantly between paper and digital, paper-based styles and know-how cannot be directly applied.

The scale of this challenge is reflected in a survey conducted by our company in January 2026. While about 70% of respondents evaluated their current forms as 'easy to use,' about 90% had experienced a desire to improve them, and 26.4% answered that they wanted to improve them 'frequently.' Furthermore, the biggest reason why improvements do not progress is 'fear of on-site confusion caused by changes' (59.4%), revealing that the lack of guidelines is the biggest hurdle to improvement.

When digitizing field forms, there are two major choices: digitizing while maintaining the paper form layout, or web-form conversion by narrowing down input items. However, on-site needs, such as entering data while viewing multiple items at a glance or passing records across different processes, cannot be covered solely by web-form conversions that display a few items on one screen. Whether the layout that workers find easy to use can be maintained determines the success or failure of digitization. Indeed, in this survey, the reason most cited for why a form was 'easy to use' was 'a layout where the whole picture can be seen at a glance' (63.2%).

However, how to design such a layout for usability has been left to the intuition and experience of each workplace. Field forms still have great room for evolution. This is why we believe we must bring a scientific perspective of Human-Centered Design (HCD) to form creation—previously reliant on intuition—and turn 'usability' into something that can be designed.

What is the 'Field Form Design Department'? The Field Form Design Department is a specialized team launched as a subcommittee of the 'Field Form Kaizen Department,' a community for field form users operated by our company. Its purpose is not only to gather individual improvement cases but also to organize and share improvements as 'reproducible knowledge' for wide application.

'Design' here does not refer to graphic design that adjusts the appearance. It refers to 'design as problem-solving'—organizing on-site issues and dropping them into structures and mechanisms that suit the purpose.

The Field Form Design Department is an initiative where participating companies do not just learn one-sidedly, but bring their own improvement cases and learn from each other. Each company's cases are shared along a common business context. By doing this, we will organize form-making know-how—previously left to intuition and experience—into knowledge that can be referenced across industries. The foundation for this is the Human-Centered Design (HCD) expertise of our external advisor, Professor Yoshiharu Yoshitake.