Looking for Access UI Design Inspiration – Forms with Buttons or Tabs (4 Viewers)

[Bonowox]

Hello everyone,

I’m currently working on redesigning the user interface of my Microsoft Access database, and I’m looking for inspiration and visual examples of well-designed forms. I’m particularly interested in two types of designs:

Classic menu-style forms with command buttons (like a main menu or switchboard), or

Modern layouts using tabs, icons, and clean navigation.


If you have any examples of your own (screenshots, templates, design tips), or know of any good websites or resources where I can find UI templates for Access, I’d really appreciate if you could share them here.

My goal is to create a user-friendly interface that’s clean, intuitive, and visually appealing — nothing too complex, but something that looks professional and is pleasant to use.

Thank you in advance to anyone willing to share or help!
Best regards

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Start with this idea: Your DB usually represents a re-imagination of a business process or set of processes. Make your form or forms reflect that process in some way. That way, your users don't get dismayed by a totally new and unfamiliar process.

Revisit your business process to see how it can be sub-divided. As to buttons, there will be cases where you can choose to trigger some action, and a button is not a terrible idea. But if there are circumstances where you aren't yet ready for the button, it might be good to consider tweaking the button visually, perhaps by enabling or disabling it based on the status of your process. I.e. hide the SAVE button until you really ARE ready to save something. Hide the CLOSE button if your form is still dirty. Allow creation of a new record only if the old record isn't dirty. There are tons of options of this sort to consider. The details of how you do this are a matter of style and my style tends to be somewhat boring. Not to mention that my code still belongs to the U.S. Navy so I could not publish it even if I still had it. (Which I don't.)

 

[cheekybuddha]

You can go through some of the posts here on UtterAccess Interface & Design board for some ideas and inspiration of what's possible in Access

 

[jdraw]

You may find this youtube video by Greg Regan helpful.

 

[tvanstiphout]

You could also look at the various templates in Access, available via File > New.

 

[AccessBlaster]

I borrowed heavily from Microsoft templates when designing forms. I also googled Microsoft Access Forms and studied the samples.

 

[Bonowox]

thank you all