Understanding requirements

Imagine you have been asked to design a screen which will display a class based on subject and teacher. For example if I select a Mr Biggs who teaches History I would see his History class. In order to design this we need to decide on -

What input is required?

We need to be able to select the class and teacher. We  need to make a decision on how this will happen. It could be some text boxes. Or it could be a drop down menu. How about you select a subject and only see the teachers of that subject? The key to this is to decide on how to make the users experience more positive and to lead them through the process. In the next section we will look at the “pallet” to see the choices we have.

What output is required?

In this case we will have the class list. We could display this on a new form or we could display it on the existing one. The second option is better as this is what people would normally expect. Remember you are a user of computer systems! Think about how you would want to have the results and then design to that.

What help/info will be needed?

You must NEVER have a interface which does not explain what it is doing! This means

A title – Yes it is important!
Introduction – To go through the steps of the form.
On-line help – If appropriate

You must consider the technical skill level of the user. If you have a novice you must assume they will struggle with even the most basic operations. That does have the danger of being too patronizing but it is better to be clear rather than assuming a higher skill level.

Brand or extra items

The brand will heavily influence the aesthetics of the interface. This course focuses more on the functionality of the interface rather than the aesthetics however that does not mean that it is not important! You must consider this when creating a design.

Extra items could be anything from the current date to a image. It could be adverts or even animations. The customer would specify what extras they want on the screen and they must be added.