Make better UI for Access?

[behedwin]

I have worked for a few months on a project to create a database to handle staff and equipment for my work.
It was my first ever thing i built in Access and so far i really like it.

Before i worked only in excel so when i started with Access i realised how much more i could do now and with allot less work...

So now for once i have started to look into my UI building skills.
And i realize that i am not very good at designing and making it "look" good.

Is there any guids or articles on how to create a good looking UI in access.
I add functions and just throw in stuff randomly... it becomes quite messy... im sure that it can be done way better.

Any advice?

 

[RedBeard]

The following might be of use:

https://www.usability.gov/what-and-why/user-interface-design.html

https://www.interaction-design.org/...interface-design-guidelines-10-rules-of-thumb

https://uxplanet.org/golden-rules-of-user-interface-design-19282aeb06b

 

[welshgasman]

The way I approach it is, how would I want to use it?
On one DB I created there were two controls, one for bank sortcode and another for account number. These were supplied initially from an Excel workbook, so I created the form that way.
One of the users pointed out that we had to concatenate the two to paste into one of the banks systems to get the customer account data.
So there was no real need for separate controls and they were read only anyway. So I removed them and added the new control with both values concatenated. then it was easy to just copy and paste. Little embarrassed I did not think of it myself, but I was concentrating on emulating the Excel workbook to start with.

In another DB I have just created, the date for a record is generally the following Monday, so rather than enter it myself, it is generated via code, but can be overwritten in needed.

HTH

 

[Micron]

Since you're a self declared novice, I'll ask, what is the point of a nice looking house if it's built on a weak foundation? Not saying your foundation is weak because I havn't seen your db, but too often beginners fall into the same traps, which don't seem to raise their ugly heads until much time and effort has already been invested. Suggest you do some reading if you haven't already:

Normalization is paramount. Diagramming maybe not so much for some people.

Normalization Parts I, II, III, IV, and V
http://rogersaccessblog.blogspot.ca/2008/12/what-is-normalization-part-i.html
and/or
http://holowczak.com/database-normalization/

Entity-Relationship Diagramming: Part I, II, III and IV
http://rogersaccessblog.blogspot.ca/2009/01/entity-relationship-diagramming-part-i.html

How do I Create an Application in Microsoft Access?
http://rogersaccessblog.blogspot.ca/2009/05/how-do-i-create-application-in.html

Important for success:
One source about how to name things - http://access.mvps.org/access/general/gen0012.htm
What not to use in names - http://allenbrowne.com/AppIssueBadWord.html
About Auto Numbers
- http://www.utteraccess.com/wiki/Autonumbers
- http://access.mvps.org/access/general/gen0025.htm

The evils of lookup fields - http://access.mvps.org/access/lookupfields.htm
Table and PK design tips - http://www.fmsinc.com/free/newtips/primarykey.asp
About calculated table fields - http://allenbrowne.com/casu-14.html