pono1 said:
Most Access developers aren't graphic artists. And yet 99.9% of commercial graphic artists copy other people's stuff, making a small change here or there and then calling it their own. So do what the pros do; find an interface already out there and bend to fit...
Regards,
Tim
First of all, let me say that I was a graphic designer in a former life, then a forms designer, and now a data base designer. For data base work, I find my forms design career much more helpful than anything I learned as a graphic designer.
The same design standards and logic used to create a user-friendly, logical form on paper can also be used to build a good data base form or report. Stay away from trying to be a graphic designer. Just because something is visually attractive, doesn't necessarily mean it will be user-friendly day-after-day.
Make sure that the type face used appears smooth on the screen and is large enough to be read easily by older users; that fields are large enough for data entry and readability; keep colors soft, but contrast high; organize "like information" in clearly labeled "zones" on your forms or reports (i.e., customer information in one zone, order information in another) with adequate space between these zones so they appear visually separated.
Make labels and headers readable -- but unobtrusive. It's good to have "Quantity" above the quantity column -- but is it not necessary to make it scream at the user. It is more important that data stands out significantly from labels and headers.
And finally, test your forms or reports with the users. Are your forms and reports easy to read, easy to use? Are your zones based upon work flow? Ask users who will be using the forms and reports to test them -- watch what they do. Do they start at the top of the form and work there way towards the bottom, or do they start at the middle, go to the bottom, and end up scrolling to the top before they are finished? Do they have to search around for what they need?
The idea of creating a data base is to improve data entry, data retrieval, as well as overall efficiencies. It is not enough to create a data base that works. The data base must work well for those who will be expected to use it.
Just my thoughts...
PercyPercy
