System Analysis and Design

Form and Report Design

Input (Form) Design Objectives

Making completion easy and efficient
Assuring input meets the intended

purpose
Assuring accurate completion
Making screens and forms attractive
Making input uncomplicated
Creating screens and forms that are
consistent

Output (Report) Design Objectives

Designing reports to serve a specific purpose

Making reports meaningful to users
Delivering the appropriate quantity of reports
Providing appropriate output distribution
Providing output on time
Choosing the most effective output method

Designing Forms and Reports

Form and report design are performed
in the logical design phase.

Forms and reports are integrally related

to DFD and E-R diagrams.

Form and Report Overview

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
Report
A business document that contains only predefined
data
A passive document for reading or viewing data
Typically contains data from many database
records or transactions

Form/Report and DFD Relationship

Data input indicates
Process

Output/Input
Data

Process

forms while data

output indicates
reports.
Thus, prototypes are
needed for
designing forms and
reports.

Forms and Reports Designing

Process
Collect and analyze data needed
Determine requirements

Who will use the form or report?

What is the purpose of the form or report?
When is the report needed or used?
Where does the form or report need to be delivered and
used?
How many people need to use or view the form or report?

Outline possible forms and reports

Follows a prototyping approach

Forms and Reports Designing

Process
Prototyping

Initial prototype is designed from

requirements
Users review prototype design and either
accept the design or request changes
If changes are requested, the constructionevaluation-refinement cycle is repeated
until the design is accepted

Information Categories in Source

Document
Internal Information
External Information
Hybrid Information

Information Mediums
Paper (Hard Copy)
On screen (Soft Copy)

Information Processing
Online processing
- Immediate processing and presenting result
- Random Access
- Ad-Hoc Query
- Continuously Updated Information
- Anytime 24-7, and Anywhere

Batch processing
- Collect information for a period of time before processing altogether
- Any kind of Access
- Precise Format and Type of Information
- Strict time Period for Manipulating Data

Rules in Designing Forms and

Reports
Clear Titles
Contain needed information
Effective alignment and balanced
structure
Easy to use

General Formatting Guidelines

for Forms and Reports
Highlighting

Use sparingly to draw user to or away from

certain information
Blinking and audible tones should only be
used to highlight critical information
requiring users immediate attention
Methods should be consistently selected
and used based upon level of importance
of emphasized information

General Formatting Guidelines

for Forms and Reports
Color VS No-Color
Benefits from Using Color

Problems from Using

Color

Soothes or strikes the eye

Accents an uninteresting
display
Facilitates subtle
discriminations in complex
displays
Emphasizes the logical
organization of information
Draws attention to warnings
Evokes more emotional
reactions

Color pairings may wash out

or cause problems for some
users
Resolution may degrade
with different displays
Color fidelity may degrade
on different displays
Printing or conversion to
other media may not easily
translate

General Formatting Guidelines

for Forms and Reports
Displaying Text

Display text in mixed upper and lower case and

use conventional punctuation
Use double spacing if space permits. If not, place
a blank line between paragraphs
Left-justify text and leave a ragged right margin
Do not hyphenate words between lines
Use abbreviations and acronyms only when they
are widely understood by users and are
significantly shorter than the full text

General Formatting Guidelines

for Forms and Reports
Designing tables and lists

Labels
All columns and rows should have meaningful

labels
Labels should be separated from other
information by using highlighting
Re-display labels when the data extend beyond
a single screen or page

General Formatting Guidelines

for Forms and Reports
Designing tables and lists (continued)

Formatting columns, rows and text

Sort in a meaningful order
Place a blank line between every five rows in long

columns
Columns should have at least two spaces between them
Allow white space on printed reports for user to write
notes
Use a single typeface, except for emphasis
Use same family of typefaces within and across displays
and reports
Avoid overly fancy fonts

General Formatting Guidelines

for Forms and Reports
Designing tables and lists (continued)

Formatting numeric, textual and alphanumeric data

Right-justify numeric data and align columns by decimal points

or other delimiter
Left-justify textual data. Use short line length, usually 30 to 40
characters per line
Break long sequences of alphanumeric data into small groups
of three to four characters each

Paper versus Electronic Reports

Printer used for producing paper report needs to be

considered in design
Use a prototyping process similar to designing a form

Assessing Usability
Overall evaluation of how a system
performs in supporting a particular user
for a particular task
Three characteristics
1.
2.
3.

Speed
Accuracy
Satisfaction

Assessing Usability
Success Factors

Consistency
Efficiency
Ease
Format
Flexibility

Assessing Usability
Measures of Usability

Considerations

Time to learn
Speed of performance
Rate of errors
Retention over time
Subjective satisfaction

Collection methods

Observation
Interviews
Keystroke capturing
Questionnaires

Summary
Designing Forms and Reports
General guidelines for designing forms
and reports
Formatting text, tables and lists
Assessing Usability

Question?