When we started designing the client questionnaire, the first constraint we set was: it has to work on a phone. Not "it has to be responsive." It has to be usable — actually completable — on a phone in circumstances where the client is distracted, the connection is unreliable, and they may not finish in one sitting.
Why this constraint matters for practice
Most bankruptcy clients are not completing intake forms at a desktop computer during business hours. They are filling them out at night, on their lunch break, or — in the case of clients who travel to the firm's office — while waiting in the lobby before their consultation. A desktop-first form that technically renders on mobile is not the same as a form designed to be completed on mobile.
The practical effect of designing for phone-first is that completion rates go up and the number of partially completed questionnaires requiring follow-up goes down. A firm that had previously followed up with 60% of clients to complete missing sections reported follow-up rates dropping to under 20% in the first month on the platform.
Section-level progress saves
One specific decision: the questionnaire saves progress at the section level, not the page level. If a client completes six sections and closes their phone, they return to the same point in the questionnaire the next time they open the link. They do not lose their work. They do not have to start over.
This sounds obvious. Most intake tools do not do it — because they were designed around session-based web forms, not around the reality of how people complete things on their phones.