Data Flow Diagrams using Visio, Sample Screen, Power Point

Week 6

Develop and document system input and output forms as well as interfaces for your system and ISP. Include the following:

- Sample screens

- Input and output data forms

- Graphical depiction of system interfaces (internal and external)

Submit the ISP Assignment to the Week 6 Dropbox.

Writing A Functional Specification - The Screening Process
[This is a week 6 ask – see the syllabus]

Once the components of the application are decided, the next step is to detail the application workflow or prototype. In this stage, you would examine each and every feature that has been decided upon, and come up with screen flow diagrams or schematics that clearly delineate the important elements of the interface, and the relationships between them.

A prototype will often help you discover things like missing data elements from your table, forgotten about processes, and other derived functionality that you might not normally ‘spell out.’ PowerPoint does a great job of this because you can “link” buttons to other slides and when you put into full-screen mode, and click on the buttons it can move around like a real system screen.
For this assignment, prototype (usually via PowerPoint):
* The screens required for each function (or if your system is large, pick 1 or 2 processes)
* The placement of screen elements
* Navigation between screens, and the various points of access of the screens
* The data captured from the user at each screen, including data types, validation rules and constraints; source and data stores for the data; and the data processing logic and business rules applicable at each stage
The depiction of each of these functions can be aided with a prototype, if the budget can support it; this prototype comes in handy to verify that your assumptions and design decisions work in a real-world environment, and to get real feedback from project managers and client representatives that things are proceeding in the right direction. When asking for feedback, it is important to always restrict the discussion to the core issues at hand, in order to avoid the discussion digressing into issues of fonts and branding rather than navigation and screen layout.
Your data flow diagram should significantly help you to develop your prototype, be sure to use it. Also remember as you do a prototype, you may make changes to both the data dictionary and data flow diagrams.

With the workflow decided, the next step is to define the look and feel for the application's user interface. At this point, you will finally have to commit to things like the interface metaphor, screen colors, branding and related items. Much of this information will come from detailed discussions with the organization's interface design team, and will be based heavily on the prototypes created in the previous stage. But for this assignment, you will be acting in this capacity and making these decisions.
Care should be taken at this point to ensure that the filling in of the skeletal structure decided in the previous phase does not have the unwanted effect of making previously-simple items complicated - for example, by adding visual enhancements that distract (rather than enhance) the user experience. The typical example here is that of the flashing banner advertisement - it's a definite attention-getter, but it usually ends up annoying more users than gaining customers. And if you're building a new product, anything that increases your user's already-high stress level is a definite no-no.
It is for this reason that you, in the role of specification writer and moderator, must interact closely with the interface design team and provide feedback if the interface begins complicating, rather than simplifying, common functions. As in all other aspects of life, the KISS principle has a role to play here too.