1/31/2021 IGCSE ICT - Designing a System

Section 7.3:
Stage 2 - Systems Design

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

1. Understand what is involved in the design stage.

2. Know the different types of designs that are produced.
3. Be able to describe different examples and uses of data validation and data verification

Stage 2 - Design
What is systems design?
# Once there is a clear list of requirements for the new system it is time to design (or
plan) how it will look and work.

# It doesn't matter what type of system is being created (Web site, database, payroll etc),
it is very important that clear designs are produced.

# The designs for the new system have a lot of thought put into them to try and reduce
faults/errors at a later stage.

Data entry screens must be designed to be easy to use. Note the different methods
of entering data (text box, check box, drop-down-list).

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Printed reports have to be designed to make sure that they are

neat and tidy and easy to read.

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What is included within these designs?

# Every part of the system is carefully designed and tasks include:

Designing data entry screens

(how will data be entered into system... e.g. text boxes, drop-down menus etc)

Designing user-interface layouts

(what will the system's menus, search facilities etc look like?)

Designing printed outputs (reports etc)

(what will printed outputs look like... e.g. pay slip's, customer bills etc)

Designing screen-based outputs

(what will outputs that are displayed on the screen look like?)

Designing structures to store data

(e.g. for databases, tables will need to be designed to hold the system's records)

Designing data validation methods - (See below)

(how will the system prevent invalid / incorrect data from being entered?)

Designing data verification methods - (See below)

(how will the system check that entered data is correct?)

We will now take a closer look at the last two items in the list above... validation and verification:

Designing System Validation

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# Validation is where a computer system checks that data entered by the user is
sensible and usable.

# The computer system will be programmed with a list of these checks that it can use
to compare to the data that a user is entering.

If the user try's to enter something that does not match up with items on the validation
check list, the system will not accept the data.

# These checks are often called 'Validation Rules'.

An example of a validation rule - driving school booking system

Validation rule in the system states that learner drivers need to be 17 years or older
(>=17)

If a user try's to enter a new student's age as 16 the system will not allow the data
to be entered and the person will not able to book driving lessons.

Examples of different validation checks:

Validation Check Description Example

Presence check Checks that data has been entered and not If a user misses out required data (such as a postcod
missed out. the system not allow them to progress.

Length check Checks that the correct number of If a 'date' field requires the user to enter 8 digits
characters has been entered. (dd/mm/yyyy), they must enter all 8 or the system
reject.

Range check Performed on numbers to check they are Persons age should be in the range of >0 but <120.
within certain ranges.

Limit check Performed on numbers to make sure that A learner driver's age must be >=17.
data is not above or below a specified limit.

Format check Makes sure that data is in a specific format. Dates should be entered in the format of dd/mm/y

Data type check Checks that entered data does not contain Pure number fields (distance, temperature etc) sh
invalid characters. not allow for text to be entered.

Consistency check Makes sure that data in one field is If 'Male' has been typed into a gender field, the pers
consistent with data in another field. title cannot be 'Mrs'.

Designing System Verification

# Verification is a way of making sure that data being entered into the system exactly
matches the source of the data.

For example:
Imagine that data about employees (addresses, phone numbers etc) is being
entered into a computer system by typing in information found on a printed form
that each employee filled in.

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The data in the system must be identical to the data on the printed forms or
there could be problems if an employee needs to be contacted at home at a later data.

# There are two types of verification checks that makes sure that data in the system is
accurate:

Verification Check Description

Double entry This is where data is entered twice by two different

people.

The computer compares the two entries and lets the user
know if it finds any differences.

NOTE:
Double entry is often used when you set up online accounts.
You are often asked to entered your choice of password
twice to make sure that you haven't pressed an incorrect
key by mistake.

Visual check This is where the person entering data into the computer
system carefully compares what they have entered with
the data in the original document.

Examples:
Registering new accounts often require you to enter a password twice.

This makes sure that the user makes no accidental typing errors.

Visual checks of data require the user to carefully check what they have

entered into the system against what was on the original document

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