[AccessD] User interface

jwcolby jwcolby at colbyconsulting.com
Sat Aug 27 11:16:20 CDT 2011


It has been awhile since I started a new Access project and I am just re-examining my user interface 
techniques and wondering how you guys do things.  A good example of this is whether to use buttons 
everywhere such as new record, save etc.  In the past I typically used "user training", and the new 
users are expected to use the record selector to go to a new record, do saves by clicking out of the 
form or moving on to a new record etc.

The specific databases I am working on right now are for people not necessarily familiar with a 
database or data entry and so specific buttons can allow icons and control tip text to make things 
easier to learn.  OTOH they take up a lot of room.

I have written a fairly sophisticated framework that allows me to do things like combo double click 
opening a form to display the data table behind the combo.  I have clients who like that, and their 
users are trained on such things, but it is not clear however that in an environment where the user 
is totally unsophisticated, allowing these kinds of things is appropriate.  In this case perhaps 
specific users should have this ability but not the general public so to speak.

What are your thoughts on the user interface.  Feel free to write lists of things you do in your 
user interface.


-- 
John W. Colby
www.ColbyConsulting.com



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