Hi everyone!

I'm an everyday computer user with very little technical knowledge/skill. I mostly use Excel, and am somewhat familiar with writing formulas, and very simple macros. I also use Word, Outlook, Adobe, & occasionally PowerPoint.

Is there a somewhat simple way for me to create something similar to a dialog box which will respond to a series of questions to guide the user to a result? I'm not sure, but I think what I'm looking for is how to design a User Interface.

I want to create a tool to help auditors classify gas stations and retail stores. I have a series of questions (such as: is gasoline sold, do store sales exceed 25% of total receipts, are auto repairs conducted, is the store open past 11:00pm, etc.) requiring yes or no responses that will lead the user to the correct classification out of about 6-7 potential classifications.

Essentially, this is a flow chart that I would like to make into something more user-friendly.

Thank you for your help!

Todd

First question: Web based or not?

If not, I would probably suggest some sort of basic visualbasic program. The folks here at dream.in.code can assist with programming something like that.

If web based is ok, we can also help, and a simple javascript web page would probably be best.

Thanks Skyhawk! I think I would prefer something that was not web-based so it could be used when not online. Are there free or low cost programs that I might be able to use?

Thank you!

Todd

Well the nice thing is that you could write your application from within Excel. Excel has VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) which can be used to extend Excel and make entire applications. -- Once you have completed the program you can sign it so that people can run it without having to turn off thier security settings (a step I forgot last time I did an Excel application).

Apart from that there are many platforms that you could choose from. Java is a nice direction. You can go with a .NET express language (but there are restrictions to how comercal your product can be) -- but VB.NET might be a nice way to go.

You could go with C++ but the GUI learning curve is rather steep.

That's great advice Nick - thank you very much!

Todd