Lesson 16 - curriculum.naf.orgcurriculum.naf.org/packaged/assets/downloads... · Web viewDirections: Read the following profile about the information needs of the employees of the

AOIT Database Design

Lesson 6Creating a Conceptual Model

Student Resources

Resource Description

Student Resource 6.1 Analysis: User Requirements

Student Resource 6.2 Reading: Determining User Requirements

Student Resource 6.3 Diagram: User Requirements

Student Resource 6.4 Writing Assignment: Statement of Requirements

Student Resource 6.5 Guide: Writing a Professional Email

Student Resource 6.6 Assignment Sheet: Creating a Conceptual Model

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AOIT Database DesignLesson 6 Creating a Conceptual Model

Student Resource 6.1

Analysis: User RequirementsStudent Name:_______________________________________________________ Date:___________

Directions: Read the following profile about the information needs of the employees of the American Dolphin Association, and then use the table on the following page to categorize the different types of users and list their information needs. Add rows if needed.

The American Dolphin Association (ADA) is a small nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing understanding and appreciation of dolphins through education and communication. The ADA sponsors day trips for school children to dolphin aquariums, conducts workshops for young people to learn how dolphins communicate, and sponsors internships for high school students at local marine mammal centers where sick and injured dolphins are treated.

About 30% of ADA’s income comes from sales generated by its catalog of dolphin-themed items, including books, greeting cards, clothing, and so on. ADA has decided to use a Microsoft Access database to manage the catalog and sales part of its business.

The following ADA employees will need to interact with the database:

Maggie Reddich, office manager, has been with ADA for more than 40 years and is now retiring. She managed the whole catalog sales operation using a paper-based system of file cards and notepads.

Ellen Santiago, executive director, has overall responsibility for the organization. She also has specific responsibility for the budget and membership. She will use summary information from the database.

For budgeting, she needs sales data. To build membership, she needs to know where members reside. To organize activities, she finds it helpful to look at what merchandise is selling well.

She also likes to review new order data of the best customers, many of whom she knows personally.

She knows how to use the computer for basic tasks but is unfamiliar with database software. She will require paper printouts of all reports.

Andrea Brown, assistant office manager, currently assists Maggie and will assume her responsibilities when she retires. She is responsible for order fulfillment, record keeping, and data entry. She maintains accurate contact information for customers, which includes their address (street address, city, state, ZIP), telephone and fax numbers, and email address. She also keeps track of contact information for suppliers and shippers.

Andrea needs complete information for each order. This includes customer name, products ordered, quantity ordered of each product, product prices, date of order, date shipped, shipper name, and shipping instructions (for example, overnight delivery).

She also needs complete information for each product, including the name, the description, the name of the supplier, the product category, the product code or number, the number of units in stock, and the number of units on order.

Reginald Williams, program manager, has day-to-day responsibility for ADA activities. He is responsible for the dolphin store’s success and smooth operation. He reviews all merchandise items in the catalog for continued relevance and appropriateness, as well as competitive pricing. He also looks at a breakdown of products by category to monitor merchandise mix.

Reggie reviews the approved suppliers on a monthly basis; this includes monitoring which products they are providing and how those products are selling. He makes regular inventory checks to see what’s in stock, what’s on order, and what inventory levels are optimal.



Reggie also monitors order data to see what’s being bought in what quantities by which customers in what states. He reviews the list of product categories to see whether new categories should be added.

Maureen Casey, administrative assistant, helps everybody out as needed. She’s been helping Maggie run the dolphin store, and she’ll be doing most of the data entry in the new database.

User Type (Role, Function, and Needs)

Information Needs for This User Type

User type: Executive

Role: Overall responsibility for the organization

Function: Oversee budget and membership

Needs: Printed reports

This type of user needs reports that provide the following information:

Monthly sales totals

Breakdown of customers by state and area code

Most popular merchandise items

Detailed order data of top customers

User type:

Role:

Function:

Needs:

This type of user needs …

User type:

Role:

Function:

Needs:




User Type (Role, Function, and Needs)

Information Needs for This User Type

User type:

Role:

Function:

Needs:





Reading: Determining User Requirements

This presentation explains how database designers determine user requirements.



Determining user requirements requires careful, detailed analysis. Database designers have found that the best way to make a thorough analysis is to categorize users according to their roles and then to look at the functions that people in each role perform. Finally, they look at the information users need to perform each function. In the next slides, you will get a clearer idea of how to determine roles, functions, and information needs.



Just like a play has actors who each play a different role, different people play different roles in businesses and organizations. Often, people who play different roles also require different kinds of information. A role is like a name or a job title that defines what the person’s place is in an organization or business.



People in almost every role have multiple functions. In order to determine the information needs of a user, you need to think through the different functions they perform, and then you can list the information they need to perform each function.

For example, a person whose role is “Pizza Delivery Person” has at least two functions:

• Deliver the pizza

• Collect payment for the pizza

This person needs address information to deliver the pizza.

He or she also needs pricing information to collect payment for the pizza.



Database designers cannot figure out the needs on their own; they must work with the users who are familiar with how they do their work and the information they need to do it. For example, the database designer might be able to guess that a teacher needs a list of students. But the teacher might need to tell the designer that she also needs parent contact information for each student. Creating a list of user needs is a collaborative effort.

Developing your culminating project database may require additional contact with your client via email. You are very likely to have additional questions that were not answered during the client interview.



Information needs must be translated into user requirements. These user requirements form the basis for the information that will be included in a database. It’s important to come up with an exhaustive list of user requirements.

If you are creating a database for an entirely new organization, there may not be an existing database. Otherwise, there is some kind of existing database to run the organization. The existing database might not be an electronic database. It could be stacks of invoices, purchase vouchers, and handwritten order forms. But it will help you determine what the user requirements are and what data must be included in the database.

User requirements might also include more than just information requirements. There might be specific requirements about certain views or printouts or uses of information (for example, the ability to prepare an order and print it out to send to a vendor, or the ability to search for a vendor in the database by name or type). These could influence the organization of the database and what additional attributes might be needed. Think about any reports and queries that are defined in the project definition document as part of the deliverable.



This scenario of the Tae Kwon Do Academy will take you through the process of determining user requirements. Start by defining the roles from the information on this slide.



Listing the functions for each role helps ensure that you explore all of the types of information different groups of users might need. For example, if you forget that the office staff purchases supplies, you might forget to put supplier information in the database.



Not all of the users’ needs may be included in a single database.

Some information that users need may be stored in a separate database. For example, the office manager is responsible for paying teacher salaries. Salary information for employees is separate from student information and may require a different database.



When you start writing the user requirements, you may find that users with different roles need some of the same data. Be as specific as you can in identifying what each type of user needs. For example, one user may just require student names, whereas another user requires student names, addresses, and phone numbers.

Note that requirements can be very specific and that they include requirements for “functionality” such as predefined reports and queries.



All users can help you learn the business rules and constraints.

People at the top of the organization are responsible for many of the business rules organizations have. But all the employees will have some knowledge of them. Data-entry clerks who do the detail work may actually have the best idea of what data can be entered and what business rules they must follow.



This procedure helps ensure that a database is on target from the start. By taking the time to carefully define the user requirements, you can greatly reduce the amount of reworking you will need to do after the actual database is developed.


User type 1:

Role:

Function 1: Function 2: Function 3:

Information needs:1.2.3.4.



User requirements for this user type:



Diagram: User Requirements Student Name:_______________________________________________________ Date:___________

Directions: First figure out the different types of users who will use your database. (People who have different roles are different user types.) Then, for each user type, fill in one of the diagrams below, noting the functions that the user type has, the information the user needs to perform each function, and finally, the user requirements. If a user type has more than three functions, add a box beside the “User type” box to note the additional information. If you have more than three user types, add a sheet with the additional information.

When you have completed your diagrams, make a composite list of the user requirements for all user types on a separate sheet of paper or in a Microsoft Word document. (Your list is just a compilation of the lists you have in the “User requirements for this user type” box at the bottom of each page.)


User type 2:

Role:








User type 3:

Role:










Writing Assignment: Statement of RequirementsDirections: A statement of requirements (SOR) is your agreement with the client about what is required in the database. It tells the essentials of what you are planning to include in the database. It is important to agree with the client on this before you create the database. Write an SOR to submit to your client that clearly explains what you will be including in your database. Use information and notes you have from your client, as well as your project definition document and your user requirements diagram, to get the information you need.

Review the assessment criteria and study the two examples below before you start writing. Note that one example uses paragraphs and the other uses a bulleted list. Decide which layout best fits your requirements, and remember to be consistent in your writing style.

When you have finished writing a draft, look back at the example SORs and think about whether anything is missing in your SOR. When you have finished, have one group member read the SOR aloud while the others listen. Do all the sentences make sense? When the SOR is at its best, have someone type it in a Microsoft Word document if it hasn’t already been typed.

Print one copy and put it in your portfolio. In the next activity, you will be emailing the document to your teacher for review.

Make sure your assignment meets or exceeds the following assessment criteria: The statement of requirements clearly identifies what the customer should expect to be included in

the finished product.

The statement of requirements covers all aspects of what the client deems to be important.

The statement of requirements shows an understanding of how the client perceives that the database will be used.

The statement of requirements identifies any limitations imposed by business rules.

The Microsoft Word document looks professional because it is laid out with clear paragraphs or uses bulleted lists so that the reader can easily identify requirements. It has no spelling or grammatical errors.

Example Statements of RequirementsAmerican Dolphin Association Statement of RequirementsFor each order, there is detailed data on the customer, the merchandise, the quantities and pricing, and the dates. The database also tracks merchandise inventory, including the supplier, product descriptions, product categories, and inventory levels.

Customers live in the United States and Canada only. Each customer must be a member of the association. Customers are not entered into the database until there is an order, so there are no customers without orders. Customers can purchase as many products as they want. Merchandise is never shipped until at least the following day, so shipped dates must be after order dates. Every transaction has an invoice that details the purchase. All merchandise prices must be $3 or more, and no more than 15 units can be in stock of any one product.

A catalog lists all products and product descriptions. Each product that is available for purchase has a unit price and a product description. The catalog is sent to all members of the association.

The following reports will be available for print:



List of customers by region

Complete stock inventory

List of products currently on order, sorted by supplier

University Enrollment Statement of Requirements Each course that is available for study is given a course code, a title, and a value for credit points

(either a 30-point course or a 60-point course).

A course may have a quota (the maximum number of students that can be enrolled in the course in any one semester).

Each quota is reviewed regularly, and the last date of review is recorded with the quota.

A course can exist before any students are enrolled in it.

Students may not enroll for more than 180 points’ worth of courses at any time.




Guide: Writing a Professional EmailDirections: Compose a cover email to your client that presents your project definition document and statement of requirements, which you will include as attachments to the email. Use the guidelines below to help you create a concise, professional email. When you are satisfied with your email, send it to your teacher with the attachments. Your teacher will check your email as well as your statement of requirements before sending them to your client.

Many people think email is only a casual form of communication and therefore the standard rules of grammar and etiquette do not apply. This may be true when composing quick, casual emails to friends or family, but when writing an email to a client, a potential employer, or a business associate, emails should be as professional, clear, and concise as any business letter. A professional email will give your work credibility and indicate to clients that they should take you seriously.

Email Content Guidelines Explain the purpose of the email, which is to come to agreement on the project definition and the

SOR so that the client can sign off on these documents.

Briefly describe the attachments.

Ask the client to respond with any feedback or questions.

Tell the client the date when you need a response.

Email Format Guidelines Get a proper email address for yourself. Make sure you use an email address that gives you a

professional identity. If you don’t have one, ask your teacher for help getting one.

Add a clear subject line. Make it obvious why you are writing so that the recipient is motivated to open and read your message.

Use proper spelling, punctuation, and grammar; leave a good impression of you and your skills.

Read your entire message before sending it, and be sure your tone and message are as you intended.

Name attachments properly. Use specific names so that the recipient knows what is contained inside (e.g., “ADA Database Statement of Requirements,” not “database” or “document”).

Email Message Guidelines Open with a professional, friendly greeting; introduce the email as if you were writing a business

letter.

Put a concise, clear message at the beginning of the email. Get to the point quickly so that your email is not skipped or deleted.

Keep content professional throughout the body of the email; do not use informal terms, emoticons, or web lingo.

Indicate that there is an attachment in your message to be sure your documents do not get overlooked.

End with a courteous closing; leave your client with a good feeling about you and your work.




Assignment Sheet: Creating a Conceptual ModelDirections: On a separate sheet of paper, draw a conceptual model of your culminating project database.

Your conceptual model should show the following:

All of the entities that need to be included in the database

The attributes of each entity

The business rules that put limitations on entities

Which entities are related

Use all of the documents you have collected so far to help you with this important model. You should be able to find much of the information that you need in your user requirements diagrams. But you should also refer to your project definition document, your statement of requirements, and all of the information and notes that you have from your client.

TemplatesUse a template such as the following to show your different entities and attributes. Then, draw lines between entities that are related.

Entity 1 Entity 2

Business rules: Attributes Business rules: Attributes

Make sure your assignment meets or exceeds the following assessment criteria: The model shows a clear understanding of what entities and attributes are.

Entities correspond to the client’s most important user requirements.

The attributes listed for each entity correspond to the information that the user needs.

Business rules are included with the entities affected by them.

The model clearly shows which entities are related.

The model is neat, legible, and professional.


Documents

Lesson 16 - curriculum.naf.orgcurriculum.naf.org/packaged/assets/downloads... · Web viewDirections: Read the following profile about the information needs of the employees of the