Come on, we’ve all made them. Maybe it was a database you slapped together really quickly. Maybe it was your first database, as you were learning FileMaker.
No matter what the reason, it was U-G-L-Y. Ugly.
Ugly isn’t necessarily all bad, though, is it? After all, you’re just entering data into it — not taking it out for dinner! Right?
Let’s take a look at a really ugly layout. This is one I put together quickly with some of my favourite issues that I’ve seen from real databases.
You may be thinking, “This is an exaggeration just to make a point”. Admittedly, I’ve put a lot of badness together in one layout, but it’s not really so off the mark — not even the picture of Grover!
I’m not doing this to insult anyone; I’ve made some of these layout design faux pas as well in a past life. FileMaker makes it easy to learn the product incrementally. As a result, we often want to apply what we’ve just learned with a vengeance. Then we learn something new, and litter it throughout our work — and then we learn another thing. It’s the FileMaker circle of life.
Over the next little while, I’ll be making reference to this layout, and slowly changing it into a much more palatable (in my opinion) design.
Keep checking back!
Paul Spafford
FMLayoutMode.com
Spafford Data Solutions
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