Customer feedback to improve product design

re: Customer feedback to improve product design

erwin leyes — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 15:36:30 GMT

if this is the way ms access team develops software then, I am hoping ms access internal development will become an open source project someday. And I am hoping Visual foxrpo too. We developers can foresee the reality esp in datacentric applications that if they will furnished ms access then, VS.net will end up somewhere. So, politics is the game here. Fellow MS Access Developer lets continue to do a positive criticism to the ms access team. As-Salamu Alaykum!!!

re: Customer feedback to improve product design

Gunnar — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 09:17:40 GMT

I've been using Access since Access 97. I develop applikations that we use internally at the Research Institute where I work. Now I use Access 2003 and have done some small testing with Access 2007. I understand your intentions making Access more easy to use for unexperienced users. But while you've done this you also made it more difficult for proffesional developers. I agree strongly with

"What would be good is an "Access 97" setting in Options to switch it all off including AutoCorrect and Subdatasheets etc etc."

re: Customer feedback to improve product design

Vladimir Cvajniga — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 09:00:25 GMT

Craig: "What would be good is an "Access 97" setting in Options to switch it all off including AutoCorrect and Subdatasheets etc etc." I second that!

re: Customer feedback to improve product design

Gilad — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 06:16:22 GMT

This post is about Customer feedback. I can’t resist but to return the ball to the Access team’s end, by saying that I think you would be wise to practice what you preach. There was another post such as this way back that dealt with confrontations and the recommended ways to deal with them. I was tempted then, as I sometimes am, when such general strategy issues come up, to use the post to try and convince members of the team to use their own recommendations to others, and actually demonstrate the conduct they recommend. This blog does enable communication with the Access customers, and I think it is wonderful, but it does not necessarily mean that the Access team is also responsive to its customers. It may just be a way to allow the developers to vent their frustrations, without really taking them into serious consideration. For example, I can’t believe that the added ribbons in Access07 were based on any listening to any Access customers, developers or end users alike. I know the Office team listened a lot to customers when developing the ribbons, and then ribbons were introduced to the Office user-interface. So if they were made to be part of the Access user interface that would have made more sense to me. But they weren’t. Instead the developers are now required to add ribbons to the interface of the applications they develop, which is a whole different matter. The reasons developers don’t like ribbons has been discussed here. I think the reasons end users will not use them is even more salient. I assume the Access team has many considerations that I can not be aware of, and there must be a lot more reasoning behind their decisions that I can not know about. But from my limited perspective, this looks and seems like just an example of pretending to listen to customers, but in fact not sufficiently doing so. I hope I don't sound to harsh. I do think Access is great.

Gilad

re: Customer feedback to improve product design

Craig Alexander Morrison — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 17:10:10 GMT

Clint "we referred the Access 2003 boot screen as the gray screen of death." If only I could get Access 2003 to look as good as Access 97 at startup I would be happy. That is no getting started at all. How about making the getting started, ribbons and navigation all things we can switch off so that Access 2009 will look and work just like Access 97 as far as the UI is concerned. You got it right and it is a shame that all "progress" since has been frivolous. As stated so many times by many before just make these new things that developers do not want or need OPTIONAL. Not so much a "gray screen of death" more of a blank sheet of paper. Just because many developers hate the above new UI clutter does not mean it may have some no use to the "Sunday Drivers" but make it all OPTIONAL rather than force us to wade through this detritus. What would be good is an "Access 97" setting in Options to switch it all off including AutoCorrect and Subdatasheets etc etc.

re: Customer feedback to improve product design

Vladimir Cvajniga — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 14:25:27 GMT

Erwin: Thank you very much for your support. :-)

re: Customer feedback to improve product design

Erwin Leyes — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 09:36:49 GMT

Make the distribution of ms access even like rbase or Visual Foxpro.The Ribbon customization like menu bar in VS 2008 and datasheet/datagrid like DevExperience-Developer Express. It's a dream for all the ms access developers. Why the Developer Express team can create such an incredible enhancements? MS has a very Fat budget compared to them. Vladimir, thanks four your continuous positive feedback. Someday the Ms Access team will make or break!

re: Customer feedback to improve product design

Vladimir Cvajniga — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 00:08:07 GMT

Will there be a "customer-feedback-call" for navigation "pain" & ribbon & help & missing classic UI with toolbars & missing database window? Please...

re: Customer feedback to improve product design

Vladimir Cvajniga — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 23:35:59 GMT

I have rated CZ template called Úkoly. But as far as I can see low ratings do not count... :-/

re: Customer feedback to improve product design

Vladimir Cvajniga — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 23:12:54 GMT

1) Why not make maïn screen items optional? Experienced users don't need a screen with links to templates. 2) Ergonomy: "Blank database" icon is far away from lower right corner where we input database name. I'd expect the input box just under the "Blank database" icon.