Chapter 10 (Structuring System Data
Requirements)
Forms and Reports
Forms
Definition: A business document with predefined data and spaces for
user input. Examples include order forms, applications, and registration
sheets.
Purpose: Display or collect information about a single record, such as
one customer or one product.
Design:
o Should focus on layout, usability, and content clarity.
o Include meaningful titles, consistent navigation, and balanced
layouts.
Reports
Definition: A business document containing predefined, passive data
for reading/viewing, often summarizing multiple records (e.g., invoices
or sales summaries).
Purpose: Used for decision-making, monitoring, and organizational
communication.
Types: Scheduled, key-indicator, exception, drill-down, and ad-hoc
reports.
Design: Requires clear labels, effective sorting, and sufficient white
space for readability.
User-Centered Design
Overview: A design approach focused on understanding the users’
needs, goals, and tasks.
Process:
1. Gather user requirements.
2. Develop prototypes based on these requirements.
3. Continuously refine prototypes with user feedback.
Prototyping Tools:
o Paper Prototypes: Mock screens created on paper to test
layout and usability.
o Wireframes: Simple, digital screen designs showing the
arrangement of elements and navigation flow.
Outcome: An iterative process that ensures usability and task
alignment.
Formatting Forms and Reports
Key Guidelines:
1. Meaningful Titles:
Include clear, descriptive titles with dates or codes to
identify versions.
2. Content Organization:
Display only necessary information.
Use adequate spacing and clear labels for readability.
3. Navigation:
Clearly indicate navigation options (e.g., “Page 1 of 3”).
4. Highlighting:
Use methods like bolding, boxing, and underlining
sparingly to emphasize critical data.
Color Usage
Benefits:
o Enhances focus, logical organization, and user engagement.
o Useful for highlighting warnings and drawing attention to
essential information.
Challenges:
o Overuse can distract users.
o Compatibility issues with colorblind users or varying display
devices.
Best Practice: First ensure the information is presented in the most
suitable format before applying color.
Usability Assessment
Definition: The evaluation of how effectively a design supports user
tasks.
Key Measures:
1. Speed: Efficiency in completing tasks.
2. Accuracy: Reliability of provided information.
3. Satisfaction: User enjoyment and comfort.
4. Learnability: Ease of learning the system for first-time users.
5. Efficiency: Speed of task performance after familiarization.
6. Error Rate: Frequency and severity of errors, as well as ease of
recovery.
7. Memorability: Retention of task processes over time.
8. Aesthetics: Visual appeal and engagement.
Techniques for Assessment:
o Observation, interviews, surveys, and keystroke tracking.
Web-Specific Design for Reports and Forms
Webstore Guidelines:
1. Lightweight Graphics: Use small, simple images for quick page
loading.
2. Data Integrity Rules: Clearly indicate required/optional fields
and acceptable input formats.
3. Navigation: Avoid errors like horizontal scrolling or excessive
scrolling on long lists.
4. Standards Compliance: Follow consistent GUI practices (e.g.,
standardized link colors).
5. Timeliness: Regularly update content to maintain credibility.
Example: Pine Valley Furniture
Quarterly Sales Reports:
o Designed for readability with labeled columns, balanced layouts,
and summaries.
o Use of tables or graphs based on the purpose:
Tables: For finding individual data points.
Graphs: For identifying trends or comparisons.
o Reports follow formatting rules (e.g., right-aligned numbers,
clear labels) for usability.
Salesperson Annual Summary Report (2020):
o Includes structured data (e.g., sales by quarter, summary by
region).
o Emphasizes meaningful titles, readability, and navigation.
Glossary for Chapter 10:
Efficiency: A usability dimension concerned with how quickly users
can perform tasks once they know how to perform them.
Error rate: A usability dimension concerned with how many errors a
user might encounter, and how easy it is to recover from those errors.
Form: A business document that contains some predefined data and
may include some areas where additional data are to be filled in. An
instance of a form is typically based on one database record.
Learnability: A usability dimension concerned with how difficult it is
for the user to perform a task for the first time.
Lightweight graphics: The use of small, simple images to allow a
Web page to be displayed more quickly.
Memorability: A usability dimension concerned with how easy it is to
remember how to accomplish a task when revising the system after a
period of time.
Paper prototype: A series of mock screens that can be used to test
content, look and feel, as well as the task flow and other usability
factors.
Report: A business document that contains only predefined data; it is
a passive document used solely for reading or viewing. A report
typically contains data from many unrelated records or transactions.
Satisfaction and aesthetics: A usability dimension concerned with
how enjoyable a system’s visual appeal is and how enjoyable the
system is to use.
Stylesheet-Based HTML: A Web design approach that separates
content from the way in which it is formatted and presented, making
ongoing maintenance easier and site-wide consistency much higher.
Usability: An overall evaluation of how a system performs in
supporting a particular user for a particular task.
Wireframe: A simple design to show the placement of information
elements on a screen and the space needed for each element.
