Apsona’s version 1 is just being launched. At our weekly team meeting, we realise that Apsona’s documentation needs to be updated. So I take up this task, thinking  it is an easy one, version 1 after all, right?  One week has passed and I am working heads down documenting  Apsona’s features.  I am far from done. Version 1 sure is loaded already. As I plow through all the features, I marvel at the application’s many facets. I decided to take a break from my documentation and share some of my thoughts.

My first impression is that Apsona has a super easy-to-use user interface (UI).  The UI is clean, no flashy colors and no over-the-top usage of icons. (I just think some apps have so many icons in the name of  ‘eye candy’ that it actually confuses the user.)  At present there are three different views for data records:  list, tabular and calendar view. Switching between views is simple as all appear one below the other under the table’s heading.

The list view is a two pane design.  A left pane which can have 2 or 3 fields columns and a right pane which shows all the fields in a data record, basically all the details to a record. Sections can be added in the right pane through an edit layout drag-and-drop feature. Thereby, you can make a section for the different phone numbers, a section for addresses and so on. Editing of data is done inline, right there. No page refreshes when you edit and save  data  and no losing context. Should you navigate from one table to another, the former table remembers the record you were working with–it stays highlighted. For someone forgetful like me,  it is a great feature to have.

The tabular view has a totally different look  and feel from the list view. It has data records with about 8 fields columns. You can choose to change the layout of the fields. Click on columns found on the top right of the page. A  box opens right there with the available fields in the left and the selected fields on the right. If you want to see a field simply drag it from the available fields box and drop it to the selected fields box. Click apply and you have your new field or fields in view. Apsona’s technology of JavaScript and Ajax on the front end makes for a great user experience and shows up in such areas. Again editing of data is done inline, just as in the list view. The color of the rows containing data records alternate between white and a pleasant blue. Very easy on the eye.

The calendar view was another new experience which I find extremely innovative. Click on a date field  and choose a month and year of a table and you see records which are related to the selected month. So you can see for example, all invoices to be sent for a particular month by date. Amazing!

I can go on and on but I will stop at the different views in Apsona’s version 1 and I better get back to my documentation before I lose context.

Try out Apsona and I hope you enjoy the user experience as much as I did. Till next time, Adios!

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 12th, 2009 at 6:34 pm and is filed under App maker, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.