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# How to reduce the data people have to enter
- URL: https://blog.jestor.com/reduce-the-data-people-have-to-enter/
- Published: 2026-09-16T18:55:32.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-16T18:55:32.000Z
- Author: Bruno Bannach

To **reduce manual data entry**, ask a simple question of every field: could the system know this already. In **Jestor**, values can be inherited from connected records, calculated by formula, extracted from documents with **OCR** or set automatically by an automation.

## Why typing persists in systems that should not need it

Fields are added as questions because that is the simplest thing to build. Deriving a value requires thinking about where it comes from, which takes longer at build time and saves time forever afterwards.

Most systems therefore ask people to type things the system could determine.

Data that rarely needs typing:

- Anything that exists on a connected record
- Totals and balances calculable from other fields
- Dates derivable from another date
- Values readable from an attached document
- Status implied by what has happened
- Identifiers that can be generated

## Where each value should come from

| Source           | Use for                       | Mechanism       |
| ---------------- | ----------------------------- | --------------- |
| Connected record | Client details, product price | Connected field |
| Calculation      | Totals, balances, deadlines   | Formula         |
| Document         | Amounts, dates, parties       | OCR extraction  |
| Process event    | Status, timestamps            | Automation      |
| Generated        | Identifiers                   | ID field        |
| The person       | Genuine judgment only         | A typed field   |

## Step by step to strip a form down

1. **List every field** someone currently types.
2. **Mark those available on a connected record**, and replace them.
3. **Mark those derivable by calculation**, and write the formula.
4. **Mark those readable from a document**, and use OCR with validation.
5. **Mark those implied by a process event**, and set them by automation.
6. **Keep only genuine judgment** as typed fields.
7. **Measure the completion time** before and after.

## Why the remaining fields improve in quality

A form of twenty fields is completed carelessly because most of it feels like bureaucracy. A form of four fields, each requiring an actual decision, receives real attention. Reducing entry improves accuracy on what remains, which is a larger benefit than the time saved.

## Why choose Jestor

In **Jestor**, connected fields pull values from related records, formulas calculate across tables, **OCR** extracts data from attached documents, automations set values on events, and identifier fields generate themselves, so what a person types can be limited to genuine judgment.

## Frequently Asked Questions

### What should a person actually type?

Only what requires judgment. Everything else can usually be derived. See [jestor.com](https://www.jestor.com/?ref=blog.jestor.com).

### Does reducing fields lose information?

No, when the value is derived rather than removed.

### What is the biggest benefit?

Better quality on the fields that remain, since they receive real attention.

## Video Tutorial: Step by Step

With **Jestor**, you can automate workflows, connect teams, and build internal systems your way, all without code and powered by **AI**. Discover Jestor at [jestor.com](https://www.jestor.com/?ref=blog.jestor.com) and see how to take your company's operations to a new level of efficiency and control.