Getting Started with Design 2: Type
Many developer types are confused about the entire topic of typography. What's the big deal? If you can read it, it's working, right? Not necessarily. In part 2 of the "Getting Started with Design" series, we will explore what makes type so important to a design, and...
Getting Started with Design 1: Color
Maybe you are the analytical type: great with numbers, your database structure is solid, your code always works... but if someone asks you to create an elegant, esthetically pleasing design, you're at a loss how to even begin. In part 1 of my "Getting Started with...
Double-keying: We Have Penicillin
If you were to ask me what's the most common source of pain for new, first-time clients, I can say unequivocally that it's double-keying – the practice of entering the same piece of information in more than one location (e.g. two different Excel documents). Sometimes...
New Skin: A Case Study
What happens when your client does not like the look and feel you have created in your FileMaker database? You have little choice but to give them something better suited to their sensibilities. When faced with just such a problem, here's how we solved it. The Issue:...
The Pocket Watch Returns
Design sometimes resembles nothing more than a minefield. Take, for example, the article by Robert McMillen in Wired, in which he convincingly argues that people aren't ready for a watch that augments the iPhone. In essence, people might not be willing to replace the...
The Tragedy of Comic Sans
In what may be the definitive final argument in the Comic Sans wars (those of you who attended my FileMaker DevCon session know what I'm on about), Pixartprinting via Sara Boboltz of Huffington Post have given us an infographic that shows the true economic and...
ROI: Raising Your Company Profile
Adopting a new software system for your company is a major undertaking, so you want to maximize your return on investment. In part two of our ROI series, we discuss one of the best ways to do that: bragging.? A significant benefit of improving your company's...
The Purpose of Icons
Key Takeaways Icons guide interaction and reduce cognitive load: The primary purpose of icons is to visually communicate actions, options, or statuses faster than text—helping users engage with software more intuitively and efficiently. Solid vs. outline icons...
Dead Man’s Curve
Learn how to avoid a common mistake growing businesses often make. Dead Man's Curve, it's no place to play Dead Man's Curve, you best keep away Dead Man's Curve, I can hear 'em say Won't come back from Dead Man's Curve Jan and Dean, Dead Man's Curve There is a pattern...
DevCon San Antonio – Another Successful Year
Attendance was up at FileMaker DevCon 2014 in San Antonio, Texas. Alchemy Group President Bob Shockey wrapped up all three afternoons with a design panel on Tuesday, sharing the stage with Heather Winkle, Matt O'Dell, Don Levan, and Andrew Paulsen; a session on...