Chapter 6

System Design
 Learning Objectives
• Discuss various activities to be carried in system
design: -
• User Interface design
• Output design/Report design
• Input design/Form Design
• Code Design
• Trends in software development: -
• Software Outsourcing
• In-House Software
• Purchasing a software package
SDLC – System Design (3rd Phase)

System
Planning

System
System
Operation &
Support Analysis

System System
Implement Design
ation
What is System Design
• Design shows how the system will fulfill
what the system should do.
• An overall plan or model for that system
(like a blueprint) consists of all the
specifications.
• Person : designer details the system
specifications.
System Design - Goals
• A system is effective if it supports business requirements
and meets user needs.
• A system is reliable
– Handles input errors, processing errors, hardware failures,
or human mistakes.
– Anticipate errors, detect them as early as possible, make it
easy to correct them, and prevent them from damaging the
system itself.
– Being available at all of the time, and proper backups
maintained in case of system failure.
• A system is maintainable
– A system is flexible, scalable, and easily modified.
– Changes might be needed to correct problems
– Adapt to user requirements
– Take advantage of new technology.
User Interface
Design
What is a User Interface
• Meaning
– The way users interact with the system when
using it.
• 2 Ways :
– Hardware
– Software
Three Types of User Interface
1. Command-line Interface

2. Menu-Driven Interface
 Types of User Interface
3. Graphical User Interfaces (GUI control
components) – Button
– Radio Button – Date
– Drop-down menu – Check Box
– List View – Label
– Graphic – Progress
– Combo – Icon
– Tab Menu – Slider
User Interface Design Principles
Principles Description

Consistent Consistent in that comparable operations

design should be activated in the same way.
Familiarise Use terms and concepts which are drawn
users from the experience of the anticipated
class of user.
Guide users Incorporate some form of context-
sensitive user guidance and assistance.
Reduce surprise Users should never be surprised by the
behaviour of a system.
Enhance Include mechanism to allow users to
recoverability recover from their errors.
Input Design
Types of Input Devices
• Biometric device • Microphone
• Digital camera • Mouse
• Stylus pen • RFID
• Keyboard • Scanner
• Voice input • Touch screen
device
Objectives of Input Design
• To produce a cost effective method of
input.
• To achieve the highest possible level of
accuracy.
• To ensure that the input is acceptable to
and understood by the users.
Example
of Form
Input Validations
• After verification, data is input into the
computer for processing.
• Before processing, data is subjected to
another checks for accuracy by a series of
programs.
• While data verification is carried out
through manually re-keying, data
validation uses software.
 Types of Data Validation
• Format Check
– Check that data conform to certain expected
picture or format.
– Example - a product code has a picture format of
AAA/99/AAA.

• Data Type Check

– Check that a data item fits the required data type.
– Example - numeric or alphabetic data.

• Range Check
– Check that the data lies within predetermined
acceptable limits.
– Example - in a wage application, check clock card
with ‘hours worked’ outside the range 10-80 hours.
 Types of Data Validation (cont..)
• Size Check
– Check that the data conforms to a certain number
of characters.
– Example – telephone numbers must be 8 digits.
• Limit Check
– Check that data is not below or above a certain
value.
– Example - an employee’s work hours for the week
will lie between 0 and 100 hours.

• Existence/Presence Check
– Check whether the data keyed in exists or not in
the relevant database.
– Example – IC number is checked for existence
before user is allowed to save the record.
Consideration for Input Design
• Volume. Large volumes require automated
input.
• Frequency. Infrequent input needs keyboard
terminals.
• Accuracy. Built-in data validation checks.
Automated input.
• Speed. Some transactions require that they
be input immediately eg. ATM
Example of Input Screen
Output Design
Factors Affecting Output Design
Factor Comment / Example

Purpose Purpose or use of outputs

Frequency For fast response times, use keyboard

of Output interrogations
(time)
Volume High volumes, use high-speed printer

Output Whether hard or soft copy required.

medium

Content and Printouts and VDU displays are suitable for good
format presentation.
Types of Output devices
• Screen
• Audio
• Printers and plotters
• Mobile devices
• kiosk
Types of Reports
Guidelines for Creating Reports
• Functional Area – a report must be
designed for a particular functional area
(ie department) eg. Sales Analysis report is
for Sales department.
• Level of Staff – a report must be designed
for a particular staff of a particular level eg.
a detailed Inventory report may for
Salesman.
• Purpose of Report – a report must contain
certain information which are relevant and
useful to the users making decision
Types of Reports
• Detail reports (sorted and uncategorised) – every
single item
• Detail reports (sorted and categorised) – every single
item
• Summary reports – totals and sub-totals, may be
graphs or charts.
• Forecast reports – projection into future eg. sales,
price etc
• Exception reports – filtered items using specific
criteria eg. top 5 saleable items, owed > 5 months etc.
Detail Report
Summary Report

Sub-totals

Control
Breaks

Totals
Exception Report

Reporting OT hours for certain Stores

 Hours
Fields
Report
Fields Report
Header

Design Page
header

Layout

Control break on Group Footer

Store Number
field

Report
Footer

Page
footer
Attributes of a Good Report
• Appropriate Report Title
– Name. Tells the reader the report which is being read. Should
be related to the content of the report.
– Revision. Where the same report has been produced more than
one time, indicate the date of printing and version number.
– Length. The title used should clear, simple and concise. It
should not be too long that leads to focus while not too short
that the readers are unable to know what it will contain.
• Pleasing Report Layout
– Labels. All data entry fields and data should have appropriate
labels.
– Layout. Information on a report should be well layout on paper
or displayed on a screen.
– Spacing. Sufficient margins and spaces between the data items
must be allocated in a report.
Attributes of a Good Report (cont..)
• Meaningful Report Content
– Presentation. Information contained in a report should
be presented in a way that is useful to the users.
– Relevant. A report should only contain information
which are relevant and required by the users.
• Others
– If displayed on a screen, an indicator should be
provided to users to show the direction to flip forward
or backward.
– A report should contain information which will tell the
users when he or she has come the end of the
document or a display screen.
Form Design
Code Design
 Code design
• A code is a set of letters or numbers that represents
a data item.
• Purpose: Used to simplify output, input and data
formats.
• Advantages: Codes are shorter than the data they
represent, they save storage space and costs, reduce
data transmission time and decrease data entry time.
Traditional System vs. Web-
Based Systems
Development
Traditional System
• Security issues usually are less complex
than with Web-based systems, because
the system operates on a private company
network, rather than the Internet.
• Systems design is influenced by
compatibility issues, including existing
hardware and software platforms and
legacy system requirements.
• Software development typically follows
one of three main paths: in-house
development, purchase of a software
package and outsource.
Software Development
Options
 1. In-house Software Development
• Purposes:
– To satisfy unique business requirements
– To minimize changes in business procedures
and policies,
– To meet constraints of existing systems and
existing technology
– To develop internal resources and capabilities.
• Example
– A college, for example, needs a course
scheduling system based on curriculum
requirements, student demand, classroom
space, and available instructors.
 2. Software Outsourcing
• Definition
– Transfer of information systems development, operation, or
maintenance to an outside firm that provides these services,
for a fee, on a temporary or long-term basis.

• Relatively tasks
– The rental of software, business process outsourcing, or the
handling of a company’s entire IT function.

• Advantages
– cost savings and efficiency gains to greater competitive
advantage.

• Disadvantages
– service delivery - which may fall behind time or below
expectation
– confidentiality and security - which may be at risk
 3. Purchase Commercial Software
Packages
• Definition
– A software or program that is designed and
developed for licensing or sale to end
users or that serves a commercial purpose
• Example: An accounting package
• Advantages
– Revenue provision, availability of full
features, easy to implement, cheaper and
reliable
• Disadvantage
– Pay for annual fee payments, may not meet
specific goals and their requirements
depend on market research.
 Make or Buy Decision
Companies often decide to develop software in-house because no commercially
available software package can meet their unique business requirements. A college, for
example, needs a course scheduling system based on curriculum requirements, student
demand, classroom space, and available instructors. A package delivery company needs
a system to identify the best combination of routes and loading patterns for the
company’s fleet of delivery trucks. If existing software packages cannot handle those
requirements, then in-house developed software might be the only choice.
 WEB-BASED DEVELOPMENT
• Internet-based development treats the Web
as the platform, rather than just a
communication channel.
• Web-based systems are easily scalable, and
can run on multiple hardware environments.
• Web-based software treats the software
application as a service that is less
dependent on desktop computing power and
resources.
• a description of Internet-related trends,
including Web 2.0 and cloud computing.
1. Web 2.0
• Many IT professionals use the term Web
2.0 to describe a second generation of the
Web that will enable people to collaborate,
interact, and share information much more
effectively.
• The Web 2.0 platform will enhance
interactive experiences, including wikis
and blogs, and social-networking
applications such as Twitter, MySpace and
Facebook
2. Cloud Computing
• It refers to the cloud symbol that indicates
a network, or the Internet.
• Some industry leaders predict that cloud
computing will offer an overall online
software and data environment supported
by supercomputer technology.
• If so, cloud computing would be an
ultimate form of SaaS (Software as a
service), delivering services and data to
users who would need only an Internet
connection and a browser
End of Chapter 5