Our good friend, Don Levan, Vanguard Custom Software, is hosting the next Craft of FileMaker Design Studio on 

Register before the end of the FileMaker Developer’s conference and save $300.

Attendees of The Design Studio will learn a formal process for designing exceptional FileMaker solutions:

• Conduct design research
• Derive requirements from personas and scenarios
• Identify and use design patterns
• Develop and refine ideas
• Prototype and  test designs
• Utilize feedback to improve solutions

 Eight FileMaker Inc. staff have attended the Design Studio (formerly known as the “Fundamentals of Exceptional Interface Design Workshop”). Jesse Barnum, President of 360Works, had this to say of the workshop, “This workshop really helped us in the design of the document check-in screen of DocuBin, our newest product. After implementing what we learned, we simplified, re-worded, and rearranged the buttons so that the result of each choice is much more obvious. It’s little touches like this that make any software appealing, both to look at and to use.”

What is design?

Design is an intentional process in which you elicit, derive, decide, clarify, and plan the solution to a given problem. Sketches, prototypes, technical plans, and finished solutions are the artifacts that result from a design process.

Design is also a key differentiator. A minimum level of design used to be enough to demonstrate professionalism, craft, and care. The overwhelming success of IOS, the growing acceptance of web-standards, and the sophistication of the user base, has significantly raised what is considered acceptable. Indeed, applications and websites that look amateurish or have poor interaction design are often viewed with contempt and distrust.

How can learning a formal design process help me?

It is almost impossible to hit the right solution the first time. Most people and businesses don’t know exactly what they want or need. As a result, a lot of time, money, and effort is spent undoing the initial attempts or working around ingenious solutions to the wrong problem. An effective design process saves money by identifying the right problems to solve and by developing effective solutions early when it is most cost effective.

Additionally, a repeatable design process makes it possible to have confidence in your estimates and projected timelines, and makes it significantly easier to sell better projects.

Who is teaching this course?

Dr. Don Levan, President of Vanguard Custom Software and the Founder of the Craft of FileMaker is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist, FileMaker 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 Certified Developer, and former photo journalist. Dr. Levan was a speaker at the 2010 FileMaker Developer’s Conference, will be speaking again at the 2011 FileMaker Developer’s Conference, and is an accomplished presenter and teacher. He has taught courses and seminars on interaction design, programming skills, and psychology. Dr. Levan founded Vanguard Custom Software after creating a series of practice management systems for the mental health and medical clinics where he was treating as a Clinical Psychologist.

What are past attendees saying?

“This course is a must-have for all serious developers.”

— Paul Spafford, FM Layoutmode.com

“This workshop changed the way I work forever!”

— Marty Thomasson, Gearbox Solutions

“Absolutely fantastic material, professionally delivered.”

— James Hea, Project Manager, FileMaker Systems at HSBC Bank Bermuda Limited

“I would wholeheartedly recommend this workshop to any serious FileMaker developer trying to bring the best user experience possible to his or her clients.”

— Richard Carlton, President of Carlton Consulting, Platinum member of the FileMaker Business Alliance

“This workshop provided clear and tangible examples and exercises that engaged us to rethink how we approach requirements gathering and dovetail that into intentional system design.”

— Adam Aronson, President of FullCity Consulting, Platinum member of the FileMaker Business Alliance

“The workshop was fun and stimulating and will raise the game of those who care about designing databases at the highest level… I learned a lot in a short time.”

— Doug Gardner, President of Exoteric, Six-time speaker at the FileMaker Developer’s Conference

“It’s a ‘must do’ for FileMaker developers who do not have a background in formal software development. It will save them and their clients much time and aggravation if they apply the process presented in the workshop. Otherwise, they will repeatedly re-invent the common mistakes inherent in a free-form design development process.”

— Dale Stuart, Ph.D., Sc.D., President, CEO, StarQuick Solutions, Inc., Makers of TheraQuick

What does the workshop cost?
Registration for the class is $1,499 US. Register by the end of the 2011 FileMaker Developer’s Conference and save $300 discount. To receive the discount, enter the discount code “DevCon” on the registration form.

Where can I get more information about the Design Studio?

Dr. Levan will be presenting “The Fundamentals of Exceptional Interface Design” at the 2011 FileMaker Developer’s Conference (Thursday, August 4th, 9AM). This session will provide a high level overview of the process and practices covered in the Design Studio.

Paul Spafford, of Spafford Data Solutions, has written a review of his experience attending the the first Design Studio on his blog, FMLayoutmode.com. You can read his review here.

Matt Navarre, of MSN Media, interviewed Don Levan on the FM Talk Podcast. You can listen to that interview here.

How can I save $300

Registration for the Design Studio is $1,499. Register by August 13th and save $300. To receive the discount, enter the Discount Code “DevCon” on the registration form.

What else do attendees need to know?

The Studio is being held at the 825 3rd Avenue (50th Street) in the heart of New York City.

The Studio will run from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. each day. Participants are encouraged to bring their laptop computers. Paper, sharpies, sticky notes, and six-up templates will be provided. Participants will receive a recommended reading list in advance of the Studio.

Participants are responsible for their own meals.

Relevant Links

Craft of FileMaker , http://fmcraft.com/
Vanguard Custom Software, http://vanguardcs.net/

The Craft of FileMaker is a service of Vanguard Custom Software. Vanguard’s mission is to “design simple solutions to complex problems.” They incorporate software development best practices, interaction design, and cognitive psychology to create data-driven applications and websites that are efficient for business and easy for people.

 

What do you think?

 

As with so many things here at Philly FileMaker, it’s an experiment.  If it floats, we’ll keep it, if it sinks…you must promise never to speak of it again.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Philly-FileMaker-User-Group/126085994109837

- Colin

 

In order to take advantage of benefits associated with either of these affiliations, you must have attended a meeting in the past 3 months.  I’d also like to remind folks that FMPug membership is the hands-down best resource for FileMaker-specific member benefits and discounts – and I recommend joining today.

PeachPit User Group Affiliation

Through our Peachpit User Group membership, we receive monthly additions to a PFUG lending library.  If there is a Peachpit title you’d like us to acquire, let us know.  There’s not much to speak of yet in the Library, as we only started this program two months ago.

You can check out any of these titles at a user group meeting, and return it by the next meeting.

Currently available:

Paperless: Real-World Solutions with Adobe Technology (J.P. Terry)

Web Anatomy: Interaction Design Frameworks that Work (Hoekman & Spool)

The permalink to the Lending Library is here:

http://www.phillyfilemaker.org/index.php/members/lending-library/

And a link can always be found in the right sidebar of this blog; look for the yellow Peachpit logo.

Apple User Group Affiliation

The Apple User Group program offers us a number of benefits, but the most immediately germane is the discount program.  Discount offers on many products are available here:

http://appleusergroupresources.com/?cat=12

Note that you’ll need to contact me directly to get the discount code for a particular item.

Colin

colin.keefe@itsolutions-inc.com

 

Recap!

Two dozen FileMaker enthusiasts converged on the the IT Solutions office for the 5th Annual PFUG Year End Bonanza on December 15th.

We continued our annual tradition of vendor discussions and giveaways, of course – congratulations to Dan Stein, Todd Chronister, Walter Burns, Preston Cabe, Tim Lynott, Mike Ahern, Bryant Minard, Gale Raspen and Michael Reddy for winning bonanza prizes from our generous sponsors! And a big thanks to SolutionMakers, Ben Waldie, ProofGroup and Seed Code, Thorsen Consulting, 360Works and Real EVO for participating and contributing to our event.

Our 2008 predictions for 2009 were, as usual, mostly wrong, but I don’t think anyone can be faulted for not guessing all the twists and turns 2009 held in store for us.  We’ll have to wait until December 2010 before we can weigh in on the latest batch – though I somehow doubt “BJ and the Bear” will make it to the big screen this year (sorry, Jason).

We spent a good portion of the meeting discussing the long range focus and goals of the user group, a free-ranging roundtable conversation that included:

• How to increase monthly attendance
• How to tailor the meeting structure for better participation, away from the active presenter/passive audience model
• Better networking and support methods between members
• In general, how to make the group more useful for the members

All in all a great way to end the year – and a big thanks to Jason Fiske of FMI for providing the excellent buffet!

Goals!

Some of the takeaways that we’ll be acting on…

Meeting Structure

We’re going to move the “Stump the Chump” session from its current slot at the end of the presentation to the opening slot; e.g. after opening remarks we’ll jump right into it. Also…we are ALL Chumps.  Previously we picked folks to answer questions from members; now it’ll be a free-for-all (which it always devolved to anyway!).

Presenters will be asked to tailor their presentations for more interactivity, where possible: in other words, where it makes sense to “workshop” a topic, let’s encourage that.

2009 was heavy on “big names”: most of our presenters had a history of speaking at DevCons and other venues, had high level topics that may have had the “just getting started” developer feeling a little left in the dark.  In 2010 we’ll be mixing things up a bit – more roundtable discussions, more group critiques of member work, more member presentations.  We’re going to keep getting whatever superstars we can, but hopefully the mix will be more healthy.

Audience Building

Up until now, who shows up at meetings has been pretty much dependent on the size and quality of our mailing list, and exposure we get through various passive advertising venues – the FMPug site, syndication of this blog, and so on.  That’s all well and good, but in my opinion our reach is limited.  This is promotion, not networking.

Since it’s in the best interest of the members to have sizable attendance, fresh faces and all that comes from a growing audience – because of the networking opportunities, job prospects, and information sharing – we’re charging you, the members, with the responsibility of spreading the word about the group.  Tell your co-workers, your clients, your consultants, and your friends.

Bring someone who has never used FileMaker before.

Bring that IT guy across the room who hates FileMaker, so he can see what it’s all about.

In short, evangelize.

We’re averaging 18 people a meeting; it would be very nice to reach 25 this year.  And it can only benefit you to reach that number.

Networking

You may recall we discussed how to encourage member communication between the monthly meetings.  At the moment we have a single mailing list, announcement only, and some of you belong to the FMPUGTalk list, which encompasses all user groups.

We’re going to look into setting up a mailing list for members to provide a localized communication resource – you’ll be able to post questions, jobs, chat or whatever you like.  That’ll be forthcoming and I should have some news on it at the next meeting at month’s end.

We also discussed the idea of member profiles on the blog or of finding some way to provide a public face for the members – for each other and to raise the profile of the group by giving it a personalized identity.

We’re going to look into this as well, though I don’t expect any movement on it before the January meeting.

That’s it for now.  I’ll be announcing the next meeting (January 26) early next week.

Happy FileMaking!

- Colin

 

“FileMaker 10 helps OSI double growth while cutting costs”

Congrats to OSI and Tony.  For those who didn’t attend our meeting, this was a great integration case study, using NMCI’s Genesis Accounting product and WorldSync SyncDek with FileMaker.

 

Loreli’s history of moving from FoxPro to Access to FileMaker makes for great reading and an interesting case study for how skills transfer between database applications. It’s also useful to hear FileMaker discussed by a current user with a history external to the product.

Congratulations, Loreli! Go read it now.