Once a new relational database application's future users needs and wants have been clarified, what is the best way to start the application's development process?

The answer is, in a nutshell, that subject matters that the application deals with become tables, subject matters' characteristics become table fields, and the information flow determines what user interfaces are needed, and how they should be arranged, linked and accessible.

When subject matters and information are used incorrectly, the results are never pretty. So, these are the issues that this article addresses.

Both the subject matters and the information flow are determined based on the information collected during the interviews with the application's future users. Relevant user interviewing is a complex topic that is not addressed here.

However, for database application's development these two concepts must be used for their own separate purposes. Subject matters and information flow are not the same and may lead to different conclusions when they are used for application development. So, it is important to apply the two sets of principles to the right parts of application development. Otherwise the result will most likely be an application that is difficult to use: the application will either be difficult and cumbersome to navigate or cannot be developed so that all the possible information entry, modification, querying, displaying and reporting features can be used.

To continue, choose from the left-hand column article Subject Matters and Information Flow Role in Application Development subsection of interest.