Effective Interface and Report Design Strategies

Designing Forms and Reports

• Process of designing forms and reports
• General guidelines for formatting forms and reports

Designing Interfaces and Dialogues

• Process of designing interfaces and dialogues
• General guidelines for interface design
• Guidelines for the design of human-computer dialogues

Designing Web and Mobile Interfaces

• General guidelines
• Principles of mobile interface design

Understanding Forms and Reports

What is a Form?

A form is a business document that contains predefined data and may include areas where additional data is to be filled in. Traditionally, forms are paper-based. Today, the layout of almost any paper-based form can be displayed on a video display. Form interaction is a standard method for gathering and displaying information on the Internet.

Examples of Forms

Common examples include registration forms, order entries, and surveys.

What is a Report?

A report is a business document containing only predefined data. Reports are passive documents intended for reading or viewing data.

Examples of Reports

Common examples include invoices, weekly sales summaries, and inventory lists.

Design Phases

Systems Analysis Phase

• Determining which forms and reports are needed.
• Determining the contents that should be contained in forms and reports.
• Generating prototypes of forms and reports to confirm system requirements.
• Ensuring forms and reports are integrally related to the DFD and E-R diagrams developed.

Systems Design Phase

• Designing the layout of the information in forms and reports.
• Determining the information to be highlighted and the proper highlighting methods.
• Determining the proper format to display text.
• Designing the proper tables or lists to display information.

Best Practices for Formatting

Use Meaningful Titles

• Use clear and specific titles describing the content and use of the form or report.
• Include a date or code to distinguish a form or report from prior versions.
• Indicate the date the form or report was generated.
• Include the valid date (or time) of the data in the form or report.

Include Meaningful Information

• Display only needed information.
• Provide information in a usable manner without requiring modification.

Balance the Layout

• Balance information on the screen or page.
• Ensure adequate spacing and margins.
• Clearly label all data and fields.

Design an Easy Navigation System

• Clearly show how to move forward and backward.
• Clearly show where you are (e.g., page 1 of 3).
• Notify the user of the last page of a multipage sequence.