> I have interviewed a few users and it has become instantly > apparent that > they all work differently and record slightly different > information about > their clients making it impossible to produce a general set > of forms that > would encompass all users. I haven't done any other forms of > modelling as > yet.
Create a global list of information that your users want to record about their clients. Review it and generalize information as much as possible. Divide the information into groups based on who uses it. Hopefully you'll end up with sets of information that are common to all with only a few sets that are user specific. Work with your customers a lot here, because it sounds like they are generally confused on how to organize their information. Ie. They are relying on your help for that. Also keep in mind that, in many cases, there is general information that everyone wants to record about their clients and that anything else is usually considered "notes". So, for example, if you create a table for the client's name, address, phone, etc. and then create a notes section, you've captured a majority of the information that your users want to track for their clients. Ultimately, after all of that and if someone's willing to pay for the development time, you could theoretically setup a series of forms where the first form prompts for general detail and then, based on who's logged in, you could present additional forms. You could even design the logic behind forms to respond based on information that's entered. For example, if the first form asks for the client's city, follow-up forms may prompt for data specific to that city. Hope this helps, -Ed -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
