Data Collection : Good Example

The bad youth club data collection form has been redesigned using the guidelines :

There are clear instructions about what to do with the form, and how to fill in the individual items. Input boxes have been drawn so that the person completing the form has to write one letter in each box, making the writing clearer to read. Where possible the user has been given boxes to tick to choose an options from a list of valid options. Information has also been added to the bottom of the form so that the youth club can keep track of what has been done with it, when it is returned.

Because the form is to be completed by a member of the public and because of the type of data that is being collected (e.g. address), it is not really possible to design the form in such a way that a direct data entry device could be used to automatically transfer the information from the form into the computer. Instead, a typist would have to enter the data using a keyboard. To reduce the likelihood of incorrect data being entered into the computer, the data would probably be validated as it is typed.

GCSE ICT Companion 04 - (C) P Meakin 2004