Sage FAS Usability Area

In the newly designed user interface, we're making a number of enhancements to improve usability and reduce the amount of clicking you need to do.  By just looking at the screen shot below, can you tell:

1. How many assets are in the currently selected group?
2. Which assets have an image attached?
3. Which assets have notes?
4. Which column is the "sort" column for this view?
5. Which tasks can be performed in this view?
6. How you would export the assets in this group to Excel?
7. How you would print a list of assets in this group?

We've also added a much-requested enhanced Find feature, that provides wildcard search terms (such as "begins with") and allows you search book fields (such as "placed in service date").  Which icon do you think represents the new Find feature? 

To see a larger version, click on the picture.  To view the answers, click here.

In the next generation product, you will be able to copy (export) general asset information to Excel at just the simple click of a button.  When you click the button, which of the following scenarios would you expect to happen:

Option A.) You are asked to type a name for the Excel file.  After typing the name and clicking OK, Excel launches and the asset information is exported.

Option B.) Excel launches and the asset information is exported.  To save the data in Excel, you would use Excel's Save features.

Option C.) You are asked to type a name for the Excel file.  After typing the name and clicking OK, you are asked if you want to launch Excel.  If you choose YES, then Excel launches.  If you choose NO, then the file is simply with the name you've given the file.

Use the COMMENTS feature to tell us which option you prefer.

Sage FAS provides almost 30 general fields of information for each asset.  All these fields cannot be displayed within the working area without the need to scroll to the right.  In the new interface, you'll be able to drag/drop columns to re-order them in Group View, but we're curious to know the field order that you'd like to see by default.

Looking at the screen shot below, which 7 fields would you choose to appear in your immediate working area?  To answer, simply click the Comment link and list the 7 fields, in order, that you view most often.

To help you with this exercise, remember that Sage FAS initially installs with the customizeable field labels listed below.  Your organization may have changed these field labels over time, so don't worry if these don't sound familiar to you.  Just respond with the field names that you're used to seeing.

Sage FAS is in the process of "Moving FAS Forward".  Although we're in the early stages of this product revitalization effort, I'd like to introduce you to the first of many Sandbox Sessions.  In a sandbox session, a picture of a proposed screen design will be posted for you to view, give comments, ask questions, and tell us about your initial impression.  Your feedback will help us refine our designs.  

The image below, which you can click on to see a larger version, shows Assets in a proposed newly-designed Group View.  I'll point a few things out, to give you some context, and then please use the Comment feature to tell us what you like and don't like about the proposed design.  

Most noticeably, we've added a Navigation Panel to the left side of the screen.  The purpose of this Navigation area is to pull out tasks and features of Sage FAS that are currently buried in the menu bar and dialog boxes.  Within the Navigation Panel, notice that we've replaced the icon toolbar with a Task list, which will be context-relevant to the content in the working area.  Right now, the working area is showing the Group View.  In future Sandbox Sessions, we'll post other working areas for your comment. 

Below the Task list in the navigation panel is a set of features that let you quickly customize Sage FAS.  For example, you can manage Groups, add an image to the Image Catalog, etc.  These features exist in the current product today but are often overlooked because of their current placement in the product.  Here, we've pulled them forward into the main interface.  At the bottom of the navigation area are the links to other working areas. 

Within the Group View working area, you can edit the data inside the grid and we've added a group asset count at the bottom of the screen.  You can also print the data in the grid and drill down to view asset details.

We will solicit input on this sandbox session until December 31, 2008.  At that point, we'll consolidate and post your comments here on this blog and in the Discussion forum. 

Field Insights are exercises designed to give us here in Herndon, Virginia some idea of how users in the field actually work within Sage FAS.  From time to time, we might also ask more general questions about the way you manage, track, account for, or report on fixed assets in general.

For our first Field Insight exercise, we'd like to know the top 10 tasks that you perform most often in Sage FAS Asset Accounting.  Below is an alphabetical list of 28 tasks.  To participate, simply "Comment" on this post and include a numbered list of the top 10 tasks you perform most often, with 1 being the most frequently used.  If there is a task that you perform often that is not in cluded inthe list below, just add it in your comment.

168(k) Allowance Switch Add Asset Attach an image to an Asset Bulk Dispose Assets Bulk Transfer Assets Clear Period Close Copy a Book Create an Asset Note Delete Assets Delete Last Transaction Depreciate Assets Dispose Assets Edit Asset Force Defaults Inactivate Assets MACRS Convention Switch Print Assets Quick Projection Reactivate Assets Replicate Assets Reset Depreciation Run Audit Advisor Save as a Group Save as Template Search Set Period Close Transfer Assets View Asset Status Report