Designing Forms and Reports
IMS1002 /CSE1205
Systems Analysis and Design
Designing Forms and Reports
At the end of this lecture you should have
some understanding of
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• what are forms and reports
Lecture 8.3
• what are the design guidelines for forms and
reports
Designing Forms and Reports
• how to effectively display text, tables, lists and
charts
• how to assess the usability of an interface
Copyright 2000 Monash University
Monash University,SIMS, Copyright 2002
Forms and Reports
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Form and report design are key ingredients
for successful information systems especially forusers
Each input data flow to a process will be
associated with a form
Each output data flow from a process will be
associated with either a form or a report
Forms and reports cab be paper-based or
screen-based
Forms and Reports
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FORM is a business document containing some
predefined data and also some areas for other data
to be filled in
• typically based on one database record
• turnaround document is produced by a system and then
returned with input data
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REPORT is a business document that contains only
predefined data - a passive document for reading
• typically contains data from many different database
records
Monash University,SIMS, Copyright 2002
Monash University,SIMS, Copyright 2002
Designing Forms and Reports
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1. Collect initial requirements
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who will use the form or report
what is its purpose
when is it needed or used
where does it need to be delivered
how many people need to use it
2. Construct initial prototype
3. Users review and evaluate prototype
Design Specifications
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Narrative overview
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Sample design
Testing and usability assessment
• Form name, users, task, system, environment
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• user ratings on perceptions of usability
dimensions - consistency, sufficiency,
accuracy, etc
• Iterate
Monash University,SIMS, Copyright 2002
Monash University,SIMS, Copyright 2002
Page 1
Designing Forms and Reports
Formatting Forms and Reports
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Poor Form Design
General guidelines:
Vague
Title
• Meaningful titles
• clear and specific, revision-no, date
• Meaningful information
• needed and useable information
• Balanced layout
• spacing, margins, balanced and clearly labelled
Difficult to read,
Information
Packed tightly
• Easy navigation
• easy forward/backward moves, current position clear
BORROWER NUMBER
BORROWER NAME
LOAN NUMBER
DUE DATE
ITEM CODE
ITEM AVAILABILITY
REQUIRED ITEM
ITEM CODE
ITEM AVAILABILITY
REQUIRED ITEM
ITEM CODE
ITEM AVAILABILITY
REQUIRED ITEM
CONFIRMED?
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Clear
navigation
information
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Blinking and audible tones
Colour, intensity, size and font differences
Reverse video
Boxing
Underlining
Capital letters
Offsetting
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Monash University,SIMS, Copyright 2002
Displaying Text
Colour vs No Colour
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Benefits of colour
• strikes the eye, draws attention to warnings
• accents an uninteresting display
• facilitates discrimination
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Case
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Spacing
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Justification
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Hyphenation
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Abbreviations
• display text in mixed upper and lower case
• double spacing if possible, leave line between paragraphs
• left justify with ragged right margin
Problems with colour
• colour blindness
• resolution may degrade
• printing or conversion to other media may not
easily translate
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No navigation
information
Highlighting Information
Intensity
differences,
boxing, font
sizes
Easy to read,
Clear balanced
layout
7712255
DR. JIM SMITH
12753
30-5-98
KS H1
YES
YES
NO
Monash University,SIMS, Copyright 2002
Good Form Design
Clear
Title
No use of
different
intensity, fonts
etc.
TEACHING RESOURCE INFORMATION
• do not hyphenate words between lines
• use only when widely understood
Monash University,SIMS, Copyright 2002
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Designing Forms and Reports
Poor Text Design
Good Text Design
Clear
title
Vague
title
Fixed,
upper
case text
HELP SCREEN H2356
ADD A FORM WITHIN A REPORT
IN THE DATABASE WINDOW, CLICK THE FORM THAT IS BOUND
TO THE TABLE ON THE MANY SIDE OF THE ONT TO MANY
RELATIONSHIP AND HOLD DOWN THE MOUSE BUTTON.
DRAG THE FORM INSIDE THE MAIN FORM, AND THEN RELEASE
THE MOUSE BUTTON.
MICROSOFT ACCESS INSERTS THE SECOND FORM AS A
SUBFORM WITHIN THE MAIN FORM.
IF YOU NEED TO YOU CAN PRESS F1 T ORETURN TO THE MAIN
MENU, F2 TO GO TO THE PREVIOIS CARD AND F3 TO GO TO THE
NEXT CARD.
Spacing
between
sections
Mixed
case
Single
spacing
Clear
navigation
information
Monash University,SIMS, Copyright 2002
Monash University,SIMS, Copyright 2002
Designing Tables and Lists
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Use meaningful labels
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Formatting columns, rows and text
• for all rows and columns; relabel after change of page
Good Table Design
Clear
separate
column labels
Numeric data
Right justified
• sort in meaningful order
• place blank row after every 5 lines in long columns
• be consistent with typefaces and fonts
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Formatting numeric, textual and alphanumeric data
• right justify numeric data, left justify textual data
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Formatting Information to Avoid
Bias
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Bias in Scales of Graphs
Sales
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Sources of bias to avoid include
• providing information that does not match the
user’s task
• providing charts with too many items
• using columns and highlights improperly
• providing charts that use improper scaling
400
350
300
Quarter
First
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Second
Third
Fourth
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Designing Forms and Reports
Assessing Usability
General Design Guidelines for
Usability
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Usability typically refers to
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• speed - efficient completion of task
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• accuracy - output provides what is expected
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• satisfaction - output is liked
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Consistency - of operation
Efficiency - related to user task
Ease - output self explanatory
Format - consistent format between entry
and display
Flexibility - must be convenient to user
Monash University,SIMS, Copyright 2002
Monash University,SIMS, Copyright 2002
Contextual Issues
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User
• experience, skills, motivation, education, personality
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Task
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Systems
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• time pressures, costs of errors, work duration (fatigue)
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• platform will influence interaction styles and devices
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Measures of Usability
Environment
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Time to learn
Speed of performance
Rate of errors
Retention over time
Subjective satisfaction
• social issues and role should be considered
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Collection of Usability data
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Usability data can be collected by
• observation
• interviews
• keystroke capturing
• questionnaires
Monash University,SIMS, Copyright 2002
Monash University,SIMS, Copyright 2002
References
Hoffer, J.A., George, J.F. and Valacich, (1999)
2nd edn., Modern Systems Analysis and
Design, Benjamin-Cummings, MA USA.
Chapter 14, 15
Whitten, J.L. & Bentley, L.D. and Dittman, K.C.,
(2001) 5th edn., Systems Analysis and Design
Methods, McGraw-Hill Irwin, Burr Ridge, Illinois
Chapter 13, 14, 15
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