New look for Google Forms

Google has done it again. When I went in to create a new Form for a training session, I saw that changes have been made to the process. Overall, I think they are improvements that will make it easier for folks to use the forms more efficiently. 

The change you notice first is with the Form interface. It's a cleaner look and utilizes the toolbar more than before. To add content to your Form, you now have to choose "insert" from the toolbar. Simple enough. 

A new feature that I really like is the easy access to your Form's confirmation message. I remember stumbling upon it a few times in the old view, but it was out of site, and therefore out of mind. With the new look, the confirmation message is sitting at the bottom of the editing page. 

This new placement makes is up front for the creator. You can now quickly add your closing message. Another feature (it might not be new, but it's new to me) is the ability to send users to view the overall results. If you check the box to publish the link, people who finish the Form can choose to view the current results. A nice addition. 

Although I'm only speculating, it seems the biggest change was meant to end a problem with the old version of Forms. Before, it was easy to share the wrong link with your audience. If you've used Forms before, then chances are you've made the mistake of sharing your results spreadsheets instead of the live Form. Google takes care of this issue with the updates. There is no "save" button anymore. It now says "send form". Here's a look at the options you get.

Now the link to share is front and center. Simply copy and paste into your email, website, tweet, or other means to share. 

The last change I like is the ability to separate your Form from the results. You now have the option to view the responses in a new Spreadsheet or from within the Form. If you choose a new spreadsheet, Google creates another document and labels it so you know which is which. 

Now I have one document that is my actual Form and another that houses my results. Pretty nice indeed. Then you can clearly share the results of the Form with your collaborators.

The one aspect of Google that I really like and admire is their willingness to modify their products. It's funny how one day I'll say, "I really wish Google would..." and find out the next day that they made the changes I wanted. It really adds a lot of credibility to the famed Google 20% time and the impact it has on its product. No wonder so many companies and schools are starting to adopt a similar structure.