New database designers typically make interfaces that are, let's call it 'data-centric', in which they design the interface based on the structure of the data. Maybe there is a main form, say for Jobs, fully editable with ALL the parent row fields, and maybe four subforms, datasheets, for contacts, orders, JobSections, expenses, whatever. This design is data-centric in that it is an interface that mimics the structure of the data.
But when you look at tasks and workflow, what you find is that for every job created, the user creates, on average, 127 expenses in a subform of the jobs form, three pages in on a tab control, and needs to enable edits by clicking a button. Grrr.
Make the task simpler. Forget about the monolithic 'data-centric' UI. Make a 'user-centric,' or 'task-centric' UI, and create an Add Expense Wizard, where the user can keep the form open all the time, can select the job using a combo, can start adding a new expenses record right away, without delay, without navigating to the parent row, without tabbing thru subforms.
This is, I think, what separates good tools from crappy ones. Simplicity and clarity of purpose. Focus on the objective not on the context. Make the objective the only obvious thing the user can do.
hth
Mark