DESIGNING EFFECTIVE

INPUT AND OUTPUT, AND

SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION
 DESIGNING EFFECTIVE INPUT

• Making input 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
 Source Document / Form
Design Guidelines
• Include instructions for completing the form.
• Minimize the amount of handwriting.
• Data to be entered (keyed) should be
sequenced so that it can be read like a book,
that is, top-to-bottom and left-to-right.
• When possible, base input design on known
metaphors.
Bad Flow in a Form
Good Flow in a Form
 GUI Components (or Controls)
• Common GUI controls (for both Windows and Web interfaces)
– Text boxes
– Radio buttons
– Check boxes
– List boxes
– Drop down lists
– Combination boxes
– Spin boxes
– Buttons
– Hyperlinks (yes, also for Windows applications—see Quicken
2000)
• Advanced controls (mostly for Windows interfaces)
– Drop down calendars
– Slider edit controls
– Masked edit controls
– Ellipsis controls
– Alternate numerical spinners
– Check list boxes
– Check tree boxes
Common GUI Components
Advanced GUI Components
Advanced GUI Components (continued)
 Input Design Process

1. Identify system inputs and review logical

requirements.
2. Select appropriate input components/controls.
3. As necessary, design any source documents.
4. Design, validate and test inputs eg using some
Prototyping tools
Example Input Prototype for Data Maintenance
Example Input Prototype for Web Interface
 OUTPUT DESIGN OBJECTIVES

• Designing output to serve the intended purpose

• Making output meaningful to the user
• Delivering the appropriate quantity of output
• Making sure the output is where it is needed
• Providing the output on time
• Choosing the most effective output method
 OUTPUT TECHNOLOGIES

• Printers
• CD ROMs and DVDs
• Flash disks
• Electronic output – email, faxes, bulletin
board messages …
• Pull technology
• Push technology
 FACTORS TO CONSIDER WHEN
CHOOSING OUTPUT TECHNOLOGY

• Who will use the output

• How many people need the output
• Where is the output needed
• What is the purpose of the output
• What is the speed with which output is needed
• How frequently will the output be accessed
• How long will the output be stored
FACTORS TO CONSIDER WHEN
CHOOSING OUTPUT TECHNOLOGY cont

• Under what special regulations is the output

produced, stored and distributed?
• Initial and ongoing costs of maintenance and
supplies
• Environmental requirements eg space, cabling,
noise absorption for output technologies
SUCCESSIVELY IMPLEMENTING THE
INFORMATION SYSTEM
 TRAINING USERS
• Training strategies are determined by who
is being trained and who will train them.
• Who to train – any one who will have
secondary or primary use of the system
• Trainers – vendors, system analysts,
external paid trainers, inhouse trainers,
other system users
 GUIDELINES FOR TRAINING

• Training objectives – differ depending on who is

being trained. Objectives allow evaluation of
training when complete.
• Training method – determined by kind of job one
does, personalities, experience and background.
• Training site – can be offsite, onsite
• Training materials – training manuals, cases,
prototypes and mock-ups of outputs
 CONVERSION

• Is physically converting the old information

system to the new or modified one.
• There is no single best way to proceed
with conversion
 CONVERSION STRATEGIES

DIRECT CHANGEOVER
• on a specified date the old system is dropped and the
new one put into use. Only successful if extensive
testing is done beforehand, and some delays in
processing can be tolerated.
• Advantage – adaptation is a necessity –no choice
between old and new system
• Disadvantage – errors lead to long delays, user
resistance and no adequate way tocompare new results
with old
 PARALLEL CONVERSION

• Old and new system run at the same time, in

parallel, for a specified period of time, and
reliability of results examined.
• Adv – can check new against old data – errors
detected. Users not forced to adapt a new
system abruptly
• Disadv – cost of running the two systems in
parallel, doubling employees workload,
employees may not be very enthusiastic about
using the new system
 GRADUAL / PHASED CONVERSION

• The volume of transactions handled by the

new system is gradually increased as the
system is phased in.
• Adv – detecting and recovering from errors
without lots of downtime, user acceptance
higher
• Disadv – taking long to get the new
system in place, inappropriate for small,
uncomplicated systems
 MODULAR PROTOTYPE CONVERSION

• Building of modular operational prototypes

in a gradual manner
• Adv – each module is thoroughly tested
before being used, users familiar with
each module before it becomes
operational
• Disadv- special attention needed for
interfaces, and prototyping not usually
feasible
 DISTRIBUTED CONVERSION

• Many installations of the same system are

contemplated eg in banking, restaurants
• One entire conversion is done using the above
approaches at one site, and if succesful done for
other sites
• Adv – problems can be detected and contained
rather than inflicted simultaneously on all sites
• Disadv – each site has its own peculiarities
which should be handled accordingly.
Note
• No particular conversion approach is
equally suitable for every system
implementation.
• A contingency approach on deciding on a
conversion strategy is recommended
 SECURITY CONCERNS FOR TRADITIONAL
AND WEB-BASED SYSTEMS

• Security of computer facilities, stored data

and the information generated is part of a
successful conversion.
• Security can be
 Physical
 Logical
 Behavioural
 Physical security
Securing computer facility, its equipment
and software through physical means –
 machine readable badges,
 human sign in/out system,
 closed circuit television cameras,
 regular back up in fireproof, waterproof
areas etc
 Logical security
• Refers to logical controls within software
itself. Includes
 passwords and authorization codes,
 encryption,
 firewalls
 Behavioural security
• Screening of employees
• Clear policies regarding security
• Monitoring behaviours at irregular intervals
• Logging
• Periodic and frequent inventorying of
equipment and software
• Examine unusually long sessions or a
typical after-hours access to the system
 EVALUATION

THE INFORMATION SYSTEM UTILITY APPROACH –

used to measure the success of a
developed system.
 UTILITIES OF INFORMATION

• Possession utility – who should receive

output
• Form utility – what kind of output is
distributed to the decision maker
• Place utility – where is the information
distributed
• Time utility – when is the information
delivered
 UTILITIES OF INFORMATION

• Actualization utility – how is the

information introduced and used by the
decision maker
• Goal utility –whether the output has value
in helping the organization obtain its
objectives
 EVALUATING THE SYSTEM

• An IS can be evaluated as successful if it

possesses all the six utilities.
• Failure – module judged as poor in
providing one of the utilities
• Partially successful- fair attainment of a
utility
• Successful – module good in providing
every utility
 Summary
• Implementation is the process of ensuring that
information systems and networks are
operational and then involving well trained users
in their operation.
• Analyst needs oversee implementation:
 correctly estimate the time needed,
 supervise installation of equipment,
 training users,
 converting files and databases to the new
system
 Class Task

Differentiate between:

i. Unit testing
ii. Integration testing
iii. Acceptance testing