5 Main Differences Between SQL and NoSQL Databases

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5 Main Differences Between SQL and NoSQL Databases

SQL Databases:

They are table-based databases, which means these databases represent that data in rows.

Additionally, SQL databases have a predefined schema and must follow the same structure. As a result, they usually require significant up-front preparation. Therefore, a change in the structure is challenging and can be disruptive to your whole system.

These databases are vertically scalable. Therefore, by increasing your server’s RAM, CPU, or SSD, you can store your SQL database on the same server.

There is a great amount of support available for SQL databases from outside vendors. Some examples of SQL databases include PostgreSQL, MySQL, Oracle, and Microsoft SQL Server.

When you have complex queries, these databases are a good because of the standard interfaces and powerful query language.

NoSQL Databases:

To begin, NoSQL databases are document based, which means the data is represented in graphs and wide column stores.

NoSQL databases do not have standard schema definitions that the data has to adhere to. Since the data is stored in many ways, each document can have its own unique structure.

NoSQL databases are horizontally scalable. This means the only way to handle more traffic is to increase the number of servers.

Support for NoSQL is not common, so many times you will have to rely on community support. Some NoSQL database examples include Redis, RavenDB Cassandra, MongoDB, BigTable, HBase, Neo4j and CouchDB.no

NoSQL databases are a good fit for hierarchical data storage. These databases follow the key-value pair way of storing data NoSQL databases. Thus, they are good for large data sets.

These are just a few of the ways a SharePoint intranet can benefit your organization. SharePoint has endless amounts of customization capabilities that can improve your day-to-day operations. If you’re interested in learning about ways SharePoint can help, we would love to get to know your business better and share some recommendations.

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User Interfaces & Type Hierarchy

Aciron "the quick brown fox" with different levels of bold type

User Interfaces & Type Hierarchy

The Delicate Balance of Font Weight

Aciron "the quick brown fox" with different levels of bold type

The font weight is the thickness of the characters relative to their height. In digital design, font weights are specified using numeric values from 100 to 900.

It is common for web fonts to include at least 4 weights. Expect to see 400 (Regular) and 700 (Bold) across all font families.

Lighter weights contribute to a more open feeling, but when used on small text they can lead to accessibility issues. Font weight and color must be considered together for the same reason. On a dark background, light-colored text must have a heavier weight to be readable than dark text on a white or light background.

Aciron font weight description two sentences black and white backgrounds
Aciron "36pt is a good size for an extra light font"


While font weight must provide enough contrast to ensure readability, lighter weights can work for larger text, especially page headers. A large, bold header delivers impact, but that might not be what you want in the context of application's user interfaces.

Take time to select a range of font weights corresponding to different header levels, and you'll have a consistent system that you can scale as the application changes over time. Just remember: each font style or weight that you add to your system increases the load time of your application.

Case & Specialized Headings

Aciron "the quick brown fox" with different levels of bold type


There are scenarios when a header text needs to be small, but easily identifiable. Eyebrow headers are a great example of this, and they show up frequently in UI Design.

In complex user interfaces with many sections on a screen, a new user needs headers to organize sections and know where to look for certain content or functionality. Restricting the size of these headers is important to maximize space efficiency and avoid overwhelming the user.

As the user becomes more familiar with the application, the header still needs to exist as a reminder. It should not be a distraction.

Type Relationships: The Secret Sauce in Your UI Kit

Aciron blog two paragraphs with pink text double spaced
Aciron Consulting blog two paragraphs with pink headers

If positioning addresses where a certain typographical level exists on the screen, defining how different application elements relate to each other is the key to deftly guiding the user. Think about a set of paragraphs grouped by thematic headers. Those groups need to be separated from each other by spacing that is larger than the distance from each header to its text.

Tabs are another example of where type relationships come into play. There is a trend in UI design right now to create tabs as a row of words or phrases, with the selected tab differentiated by an underline or color change. Horizontal distribution of such tabs should feature more padding than a bank of icons, especially if the tab names include multi-word phrases. Otherwise, the tabs run together and scanning will be compromised.

There is so much more to master in order to use type effectively in UI design. For font pairing recommendations and resources on typography in general, Typewolf is a great place to start.

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Color Coding for Business Applications​

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Color Coding for Business Applications

Choosing Colors

There are plenty of articles about how humans perceive and form associations with certain colors. However, in the case of informational organization, it might not be relevant that purple connotes royalty or blue is calming. The most important factor to consider when choosing colors for coding information is how different the colors are from each other, and from the other colors used in the application.

business applications two color coding examples
Coded colors differentiate the UI systems of each module, reinforcing the user's comprehension of the application.


Beyond differentiation, select colors that match or extend the look and feel of the application's existing branding. As you craft your prototypes, look for opportunities to feature a range of coded colors together. Make sure that each color works independently and as part of the group. An excellent resource for selecting modern colors that play well together is Material's Color System. Beyond offering up some bright and punchy color palettes, the folks at Material have taken great care in explaining the theory behind why these colors work. Learn those rules, and then go out and break them with confidence.


For an in-depth analysis of how Khan Academy uses (and doesn't use) color coding effectively, click here to read this article on Prototypr​.

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The Secret Power of Designing with Gray

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The Secret Application Power of Designing with Gray

application gray box blog text


Yikes.

The use of gray has come a long way since then. However, to access its magic takes careful planning. Judicious use of gray can modernize your application design while communicating important information to your users. Let's explore some shades of gray and where they work best:

Medium Gray: Inviting Clicks

application example of grey design

The use of a medium gray for icons, toggles, and field outlines communicates to a user that an element has not been selected, but that it wants to be. When contrasted with a bright mouseover, selected, or focused color, gray elements help a user quickly see what their options are.

This gray should be lighter than the text, but dark enough to stand out against a white background when viewed at a glance.

Dark Gray: Improving Text Readability

Aciron application black text box
This small change can make a big difference to tired eyes.
Aciron application grey text box



Replacing black with a dark gray will make blocks of text easier to read. The high contrast of black text can cause eye strain, especially when appearing in a paragraph format. Switching to a medium or dark gray can increase readability up to 58%. Take care when setting your text to gray and make sure there is enough contrast that it is still easy to read against a white background.

Try implementing some of these techniques as you design your business applications, and see if you can unlock the secret magic of gray!

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The ultimate guide to workflow automation

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Aciron SharePoint versioning graphic 5 points

The ultimate guide to workflow automation

Do you ever find yourself doing the same things over and over again, and wish there was an easier way? Repetitive tasks may be necessary for your company’s operations, but they don’t have to be so time-consuming. More and more companies are leveraging technology to streamline and automate their business processes. Workflow automation is a business technology trend that is here to stay. Keep reading to learn what it is, why it matters, and how your business can get started with workflow automation.

What are the benefits of workflow automation?

1) Reduce Human Handshakes
There are usually multiple people responsible for completing the various steps of a workflow. This can cause bottlenecks as one person’s input may be contingent on someone else’s contribution. In addition to delays, if someone forgets that the process requires action on their part, things may fall through the cracks and not get done at all. Automation can streamline the process by replacing some, if not all, of these steps that require a “human handshake.” With automated workflows, it is the system that drives the users, not the users driving the system.

2) Save Time and Money
Automating repetitive tasks will help improve productivity and efficiency in your company’s operations. Automated workflows allow employees to focus on the work that really matters, instead of time-consuming manual tasks. By removing the repetitive drudgery from an employee’s day-to-day workload, you will also boost both morale and productivity leading to lower employee turnover. This will save you the time and expense of finding, hiring, and training new personnel.

3) Standardize Business Processes
Automation can greatly reduce the risk of human error in a workflow and improve consistency in your processes. Because the same steps will always be followed in the same order, a standardized process will ensure more accurate results and fewer mistakes. This will help you improve the integrity of your data and information.

4) Increase Operational Visibility and Accountability
Each step in a workflow has a clearly designated person who is responsible for performing a required action, which sets clear expectations for employees. If the process is held up at any time, the business has clear insight into which tasks take the most time and whom to hold accountable for delays. By making it easier to monitor processes and their real-time analytics, businesses can also become more agile. They are able to react more quickly to solve problems and address inefficiencies, which in turn helps the business to be more competitive in the marketplace.

5) Enhance Communication and Collaboration
Employees no longer have to rely on emails or verbal reminders to notify someone that it’s their turn to complete the next step in the process. Instead, users can get automatic updates as the workflow progresses and easily track the real-time status of the process.

Practical uses of automated workflows

Any business process has the potential to be automated, and every organization has their own unique processes. So, the practical applications of workflows are virtually limitless.

One common type of workflow is an approval workflow. The supply order process is a great example of an approval workflow: when an employee prepares a purchase order, they need to get approval before placing the order. Whether the purchase order is approved or rejected, the workflow automatically routes the document to the appropriate person.

Another common workflow type is the publishing workflow. This workflow could be applied to the editorial process for blog posts or for internal documents, such as company policy manuals. A publishing workflow ensures that content is reviewed prior to being published on a live site.

Approval and publishing workflows are two of SharePoint’s pre-programmed workflows, which makes it easy for businesses to get up and running with automating these types of processes. Other potential use cases for workflow automation include:

Project and task management
Document retention
Customer support
Inventory management
IT asset management
Work orders and maintenance request tracking
Laboratory study management
Marketing/sales campaigns Lead management
Finance (invoice processing, expense report management, budgeting, financial reporting, etc.)
HR (recruiting, employee onboarding, timesheet tracking, PTO requests, performance reviews, etc.)
Contract management

How do automated workflows work?

Now that you know the benefits to automating your company’s business processes, you may be wondering how an automated workflow can help you accomplish your goals. How does all of this actually work?

First, you need to establish trigger conditions for the workflow. You will specify what actions must be performed or what conditions must be met for the workflow to begin. You can also set up the trigger conditions for moving from one step to the next. For example, you can configure the workflow to advance whenever a user submits a form, adds an item to a list, or modifies a document.


Then, the workflow can perform automated actions. Once a trigger action has been performed, the system begins a sequence of automated actions. For example, the system can automatically:

Send emails/notifications

Change property values

Add, delete, or modify items

Assign a task to another person

Generate a customized document


By setting up the logic for the sequence (ex. If X happens, then Y will happen), you will be able to automate steps that used to be manual. Certain steps of the workflow may still require a human handshake, but the system will drive the user to take the action by sending notifications and alerts.

Workflow automation can be a valuable tool for your company, allowing you to save time and money, increase efficiency, and reach your business goals.

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