Actually, my recent reply gave me a new idea that builds off of Dylan's method and I think is more elegant than Matthew's. Instead of using one form...why not two?

Form 1: What the user submits

Add a custom HTML element. I gave mine the CSS class ".customHtml" and the following HTML code:

<p>Hello my name is <input id="real-name" type="text"> but you can call me <input id="nick-name" type="text"> if you dare.</p>

Then add two single-line fields, corresponding to the two fields in this custom HTML element. I gave mine the CSS classes ".field-real-name" and ".field-nick-name", respectively. They have the respective variable names Real_Name and Nick_Name.

Then add the following custom CSS to hide these:

/* Can remove this for diagnostic purposes */
.field-real-name,
.field-nick-name {display: none;}

And the JavaScript to align the custom HTML input elements with our Forms fields that store the variable values:

$(document).ready(function() {
  //  initialize inline field values with values of hidden Forms fields
  $('.customHtml #real-name').val($('.field-real-name input').val());
  $('.customHtml #nick-name').val($('.field-nick-name input').val());
  
  //  when the inline field value changes, update the corresponding hidden Forms field
  $('.customHtml #real-name').on('change',function() {
    $('.field-real-name input').val($(this).val());
  });
  $('.customHtml #nick-name').on('change',function() {
    $('.field-nick-name input').val($(this).val());
  });
});

At present, if we save this form, while the variable values would be updated, the custom HTML area would still be blank. So the solution? Save a different form!

Form 2: What is saved to the repository

Make a copy of the original form. You can remove the two Forms fields; we no longer need them. You can also remove the custom CSS and JavaScript from the previous step as they are unnecessary (if you have others, you'll probably want to keep them).

Then edit the custom HTML as follows:

<p>Hello my name is {/dataset/Real_Name} but you can call me {/dataset/Nick_Name} if you dare.</p>

Since we now have access to these variables, we can replace the input elements with the values we've collected! Now we just have to save this form instead of the one the user submitted.

The Save-to-Repository Sleight-of-Hand

Now in the Process Designer, instead of choosing the starting form from a process step, choose to save a form with current process data. [01-str-config.png]

And that's it! I've attached two additional screenshots showing what the user sees when filling out the form, and the saved form in the repository. [02-form-submit.png and 03-form-stored.png, respectively]

The only caveat now is that in the form preview with the thank you message, it will still show the submitted form so the input fields would appear blank...I'm not sure if this is acceptable or not.

Hope this helps!

Working with two forms is not ideal...But it isn't a bad idea. The major problem that you pointed out would be the blank fields upon submission. I definitely don't want a contactor to fill out the form and then assume they didn't type anything. Because if they need to print it out, they won't have a completed application. I really don't want to create process that saves, emails, and deletes documents. That would just junk up a process to me.