Exceptional user interfaces are those that solve the right problem, are easy to learn, and pleasurable and efficient to use. Meeting these goals requires that you understand the needs and abilities of the people who will use your software. Unfortunately, most of us have very limited time and budget for designing what our clients and companies really need. In this session, I share a design process you can use to quickly solve problems with FileMaker Pro.

1. FUNDAMENTALS OF EXCEPTIONAL
INTERFACE DESIGN
Don Levan Phil Smith
Vanguard Custom FileMaker, Inc.
Software
Craft of FileMaker

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4. FileMaker Developers Conference 2011
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5. Dr. Don Levan
Vanguard Custom
Software

6. Craft of FileMaker Workshops

7. Exceptional user interfaces

8. Exceptional user interfaces
solve the right problem,
are easy to learn,
and pleasurable and efficient to use.

9. The fundamentals of
Exceptional Interface Design

10. The fundamentals of
Exceptional Interface Design

11. Text
Text
The problem statement is not enough

12. Idea

13. Implementation
Idea

14. Implementation
Idea

15. Implementation
Idea

16. Implementation
Idea

17. Implementation
Idea

18. Implementation
Idea

19. Implementation
Idea

22. The fundamentals of
Exceptional Interface Design

23. The Design Process
Identify the right problem to solve.
Develop ideas.
Refine ideas.
Implement your solution.

24. Phases of the Design Process
Planning
Discovery
Design
Implementation

25. Phases of the Design Process
Planning
Discovery
Design
Implementation

26. Planning
Activity Work Product
Set expectations Project brief
Define constraints
Get commitment

27. Creative Capital Project Management Tool
About the Client Project Goals Project Constraints
Creative Capital is a national nonprofit To improve the ability of the Professional The system must be functional by the
organization that supports artists pursuing Development Department to manage an beginning of the busy season starting
adventurous and imaginative work in the increasing number of workshops they will February 2011.
performing and visual arts, film/video be offering as they grow.
innovation literature, and emerging fields. The project must not exceed the amount
To improve the ability of Creative Capital to budgeted for this fiscal year.
They are based in New York City. They have document their impact on grantees and the
a small staff of 15 people in seven community. The system must be responsive over the
departments. Current Situation WAN with a dismal internet connection.
Problems with the current situation
They have been using FileMaker since their Not in this Project
inception in 1999.
We are not redesigning the existing contact
management system (yet).

28. Phases of the Design Process
Planning
Discovery
Design
Implementation

29. Research
Activity Work Product
Identify the users Interviews
Understand the Screen captures
domain. Videos
Photographs
Sketchboards

32. Modeling
Activity Work Product
Document the Personas
domain Goals
Scenarios

33. Sarah Moore “I want to product the best workshops possible. ”
Sara is a workshop manager for Creative very slow internet connection) at odd
Capital. She has been with the organization hours.
for seven years.
Sarah does not feel their current system is
She used to work full time on site, but as necessarily problematic.
her music career has taken off, she has
taken to working from home (with a
Goals Current Situation
Solution Problems with the Current Solution
Problems with the current situation
Produce the best possible workshops. While there is an existing FIleMaker She frequently has to share documents
contacts database, Sarah is not using it to with her co-workers via email.
Develop and maintain great relationships manage workshops.
with workshop attendees, instructors, and The department is planning to increase the
partner organizations. Instead they she uses Microsoft Excel and number of workshops they will be
Microsoft Word to manage each workshop. managing. Sarah can see it will difficult to
Produce the information needed for the do so with the current tools.
other departments in the least disruptive
way.

34. Sarah Moore “I want to product the best workshops possible. ”
Saras is a workshop manager for Creative very slow internet connection) at odd
Capital. She has been with the organization hours.
for seven years.
Sarah does not feel their current system is
She used to work full time on site, but as necessarily problematic.
her music career has taken off, she has
taken to working from home (with a
Scenario
Sarah sits down at her desk to review the
state of the current projects.

35. Sarah Moore “I want to product the best workshops possible. ”
Sarah is a workshop manager for Creative very slow internet connection) at odd
Capital. She has been with the organization hours.
for seven years.
Sarah does not feel their current system is
She used to work full time on site, but as necessarily problematic.
her music career has taken off, she has
taken to working from home (with a
Scenario
While setting up a new workshop, Sarah
starts a new set of tasks that she knows she
will have to complete to successfully
produce the workshop.
(Sarah noted that there is a common list of
tasks they most complete for each of their
different types of workshops).

36. Requirements Definition
Activity Work Product
Derive Requirements:
requirements Data needs
Secure Functional needs
commitment
Constraints
User Experience
Attributes

37. Sarah Moore “I want to product the best workshops possible. ”
Sarah is a workshop manager for Creative very slow internet connection) at odd
Capital. She has been with the organization hours.
for seven years.
Sarah does not feel their current system is
She used to work full time on site, but as necessarily problematic.
her music career has taken off, she has
taken to working from home (with a
Scenario Derived Requirements
Sarah sits down at her desk to review the She must be able to view the set of her current projects.
state of her current projects. She has only
an hour and needs to hit the most pressing She must be able to filter the projects by their status.
issues in each of her upcoming projects.
She must be able to see at a glance the status of planning for the workshop.

38. Sarah Moore “I want to product the best workshops possible. ”
Sarah is a workshop manager for Creative very slow internet connection) at odd
Capital. She has been with the organization hours.
for seven years.
Sarah does not feel their current system is
She used to work full time on site, but as necessarily problematic.
her music career has taken off, she has
taken to working from home (with a
Scenario Derived Requirements
While setting up a new workshop, Sarah Add a set of tasks to a project all at once.
starts a new set of tasks that she knows she
will have to complete to successfully Maintain lists of task “templates” that she can apply to a project.
produce the workshop.
(Sarah noted that there is a common list of
tasks they most complete for each of their
different types of workshops).

39. Phases of the Design Process
Planning
Discovery
Design
Implementation

40. Framework Definition
Activity Work Product
Develop the Lo-fi sketches
structure of the Prototypes
interface.
ERD
Develop the data
model.
Confirm usability
of your solution.

41. Sarah Moore “I want to product the best workshops possible. ”
Sarah is a workshop manager for Creative very slow internet connection) at odd
Capital. She has been with the organization hours.
for seven years.
Sarah does not feel their current system is
She used to work full time on site, but as necessarily problematic.
her music career has taken off, she has
taken to working from home (with a
Scenario Derived Requirements
Sarah sits down at her desk to review the She must be able to view the set of her current projects.
state of her current projects. She has only
an hour and needs to hit the most pressing She must be able to filter the projects by their status.
issues in each of her upcoming projects.
She must be able to see at a glance the status of planning for the workshop.

43. Lets look at FileMaker

44. Detail Design
Activity Work Product
Polish the Interface
interface. specifications
Style guides

45. Lets look at FileMaker

46. Phases of the Design Process
Planning
Discovery
Design
Implementation

47. Technical Design
Activity Work Product
Develop the Technical
implementation specifications
plan.

48. Programming
Activity Work Product
Make it work Completed
application or
feature

49. Craft of FileMaker Workshops
http://fmcraft.com
March 9th - 11th
Atlanta, GA
April 13th - 15th
San Francisco
don@vanguardcs.net

50. FileMaker Resources
Find an Authorized Trainer in your area
• www.filemaker.com/support/training/
authorized_trainers.html
Purchase FileMaker Products
• store.filemaker.com
View Other FileMaker Webinars
• www.filemaker.com/support/webinars
Attend or host a Craft of FileMaker Workshop
• fmcraft.com - (917) 842 - 2911
• don@vanguardcs.net