Use Gemini in Google Forms to draft a daily field form

What This Does

Field forms often start as a copy of last project's paper sheet. Gemini in Google Forms builds a first draft of a daily field form from a plain description: date, location code, time, activity, observations, whether samples were collected, whether a photo was taken. You review every question, fix what is off and publish only what you chose.

The form collects codes, yes or no answers and the observations you type yourself. It carries no client name, address or result.

Before You Start

• You have Google Forms open on a computer. Google's page says Help me create a form is currently available on desktop.
• Your plan includes it. Google's page says the feature requires an eligible Google Workspace or Google AI plan. The registry lists Business Standard ($14/user/month) as a Google Workspace starting point, but eligibility is Google's call, so check for the feature and ask IT if you do not see it.
• You know your firm's rule for Google tools on project work. The prompt below needs no client details. Observations typed into the live form later are the firm's data. Client site data, addresses, lab reports and photos stay in the firm's approved systems, so check where the form's responses are stored and who can open them.
• You are starting a new form. Google's page says Help me create a form cannot edit an existing form and will replace it with the generated one.

Steps

1. Open a new form

In Google Forms, open a new form. Google's page says a window opens where you can enter a prompt. If it does not, click Help me create a form in the toolbar.

2. Describe the form

Paste this prompt:

Create a daily field form for a groundwater monitoring visit. Questions: date, location code as a dropdown with MW-1, MW-2, MW-3, MW-4 and MW-5, time, activity, observations as a long free-text answer, samples collected as yes or no, and photo taken as yes or no. Do not ask for client names, addresses or lab results. Do not add any safety instructions or health and safety questions.

Google's page says more detail in the prompt gives better results. Click Create.

3. Read the draft before you accept it

Check the generated draft against your list. Edit the prompt at the top of the draft and click Recreate if it missed something. Google's page warns that after you create a new version, you cannot go back to the previous one. When the draft looks right, click Create form.

4. Fix the questions

Open each question. Confirm that the location dropdown holds exactly MW-1 to MW-5, that samples collected and photo taken are yes or no, and that observations allow a long answer. Delete any question you did not ask for. Remove anything that reads as a safety instruction or a conclusion about site conditions. The health and safety plan comes from your firm's health and safety lead and the work plan, not from a form draft.

5. Test it and check where answers go

Fill in the form once with invented entries. Google's page does not describe response storage, so check the form's own Responses tab, which holds the answers the form collects. Link the responses to a spreadsheet only if your firm's setup allows it.

Real Example

Scenario: A two-person crew visits Site S-01 (invented) and needs one form per day. All answers below are invented.

What you type: The prompt in step 2.

What you get: A form draft with seven questions. A date question, a location dropdown with five options, a time question, an activity question, a long-answer observations question and two yes or no questions. You may see extras Gemini added, such as a name question or a weather question. Keep a question only if you wanted it.

Test entry: 2026-09-14, MW-2, 09:40, groundwater level measurement (invented), observations typed by the crew, samples collected yes, photo taken no. Open the Responses tab and confirm the entry shows all seven answers.

Tips

• Photos: the form asks only whether one was taken. Keep the photos themselves in the firm's approved storage, and strip location data from any photo before it goes anywhere outside the firm's systems.
• Google's page lists some unsupported cases, including forms with multiple sections. Build a longer form by hand, or draft the questions here and add sections yourself.
• Observations are yours. The form draft supplies the question, never the answer.
• Show the finished form to your project manager before the first field day. A five-minute look at the questions saves a re-issue after the first day.

Tool interfaces change. If a button has moved, look for similar AI or Gemini options in the same area of the window.