Introduction to Form options in Office 365

Building a form, collecting data from people is an essential step in been an agile and data-informed business. This article provides a brief introduction to the solutions that are available in Office 365 and describes the features of each.

Microsoft Forms

• Focus: Data collection

• Forms or Polls

• Data stored in an excel spreadsheet

• Embeddable (on Websites / Microsoft Teams)

• Public or Private

• Conditional Logic

• Brandable (Colours and background)

• Included in Office 365 subscription, a pro version available at additional cost

See an example below.

PowerApps Portals

• Focus: build a website

• Surfaces internal data externally, e.g. a user can log in and see a history of their enquiries and submit new questions.

• Paid offering, depending on visitor volume and visitor type.

SharePoint

• Created by default with every list or library

• Internal Only

• Customisable using PowerApps

• Templates Available

Microsoft Word / Excel

• All-purpose forms

• Many templates available

• Can be difficult to process responses/extract data from completed documents.

Sample MS Word form templates

Power Apps

• Focus: Building apps, SharePoint Form Customisation

• Conditional logic

• Flexibility in formatting (multi-column forms, repeating tables)

• Free to use with Office 365, paid apps with external data sources.

• No anonymous submission (must have an account and be logged in to view and submit the form).

3rd Party Add-In

• Focus: More complex form scenarios

• Additional field types (eg signature, repeating tables, wizards)

• Integrate into Office 365 eco-system