Transcript Document

Best Practices
Chapter 5 - Report Design
Agenda
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Introduction
Report Types
Report Areas
Key Reporting Principles
Report Design Guidelines
Introduction
 Reporting Demands Careful Design
 Produced from the data captured and stored in
files or databases
 Think about what reports should be provided by
a system
 Each report should have a definite purpose and
contain useful information to those who need it
 Must be well designed to help the reader
understand the information it presents
 Poorly designed reports  poor impression of an
application, no matter how powerful or complex
the application may be
Report Types
 Two broad categories of reports:
 Internal reports: E.G. audit trails, used within
an organization. Primary concern  usefulness
 External reports: E.G. customer statements,
go to entities outside of the organization. In
addition to being useful, they need to adhere to
legal requirements, portray a pleasing public
image, etc…
Report Types (Cont)
 Categorized into various categories based upon the
type of information they contain:
 Detail reports:
 Contain specific information about routine activities
 Commonly used by lower-level managers
 E.G. one that shows a list of all products sold and the
quantity of each product available
 Historical reports:
 Similar to detail reports but have a different purpose
i.e.  provide information on all transactions processed
and serve as an audit trail that confirms transaction
processing and ensures that the data can be recaptured
if it gets lost somewhere in the system
Report Types (Cont)
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Summary reports:
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Group information by showing totals and trends, in tabular
and/or graphic form etc… to assist management in decisionmaking
Helpful to managers who do not want to wade through details
E.G.  A report showing total sales by office, by product, by
salesperson, or total overall sales
Summary reports can be printed alone, or included at the end
of another report, such as a detailed report
Graphics are effective because they show trends at a glance
Exception reports:
 Show out-of-the-ordinary data by listing items that match
exception criteria
 E.G.  An inventory report that lists only those items that
need to be reordered
Report Types (Cont)
 Query reports:
 Generated from questions asked by the
user about records contained in a database
 E.G.  the user might ask whether a
customer’s cheque was received or how
many parts were ordered
Report Types (Cont)
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Types of reports can also be based upon timing:
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Scheduled (periodic) reports:
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Produced regularly  daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or
annually
E.G.  reports showing sales figures, income statements and
balance sheets
On-demand (on-request) reports:
 Produced only when needed, possibly in response to an
unscheduled demand to help managers make decisions
 E.G.  a credit background report on an unknown
customer, generated upon the request of a director of
finance to determine whether to grant the customer credit
Report Types (Cont)
Report Types (Cont)
 Report content and design differs
depending on what category it falls into
 E.G.  content of a summary report not
the same as a detailed report
 Also a report generated for use within an
organization is designed differently to a
report generated for a customer or client
(invoice)
 NB  consider how a report is used and
who will use it before design it
Reporting Areas
 Reports generally have three areas:
 A heading area
 A body area
 A footer area
Sample report
PAGE 1 of 5
DATE: 11 SEPTEMBER 2007
Heading
Area
Body Area
Footer
Area
Reporting Areas (Cont)
 Heading Area
 Identifies the report and describes the
information it contains
 Includes information such as the title of
the report, the name of the organization,
the report date, page numbers and
column headings
 Headings printed only once (at the
beginning of the report)  contains
report title etc …
Reporting Areas (Cont)
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Body Area
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Bulk of report data appears here.
It contains detail lines, summary lines, and/or subtotal lines:
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Detail line (data line):
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Summary line (total line):
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A line logically related to an input record
Records are sorted according to one or more key fields
A report where a detail line is printed only when an input record
represents a special condition or exception  exception report
Multiple input records are accumulated or summarized and printed
as one report line
Subtotal line:
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Presents an accumulation of previously printed detail lines or
summary lines.
Subtotal lines also called control-break lines
Reporting Areas (Cont)
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Footer Area
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Area at the end of each page and at the end of the report
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Page footers
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Printed at the bottom of each page (pagefooting area)
Include page totals etc …
Report footer
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Prints only once at the end of the report
Includes record counts, grand totals for columns, results of
calculations such as averages, etc…
Sample Information
*** End of report ***
Number of records processed: = 16
Reporting Areas (Cont)
 When custom-designed pre-printed
forms are used for reports, constant
information such as headers and the
company logo can be pre-printed on
the forms
 The forms can also be pre-numbered
 Pre-printed forms are used primarily
for external reports (customer
statements)
Key Reporting Principles
 When designing a report answer various questions:
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Who will use the report?
How many people will need to use the report?
What is the purpose of the report?
Will the report serve its intended purpose?
Will the report be meaningful to the user?
Will the report support the user’s activity?
Will the report deliver the right amount of output?
When will the report be needed or used?
Where will the report need to be used?
Will the report deliver output to the correct person?
Will the report deliver output to the user on time?
Key Reporting Principles (cont)
 Reports are management tools
 They help people understand the
essential elements and relationships
found in raw data
 They help managers make effective
decisions
 Consider some key reporting
principles:
Key Reporting Principles (cont)
 Define the purpose of each report:
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Gives the report a starting point and goal
Two examples of statements of purpose:
 “The purpose of this report is to show monthly and
year-to-date sales by sales representatives, to
compare this year’s numbers to last year’s, and to
flag representatives whose sales figures do not meet
company standards.”
 “The purpose of this report is to show sales activity
for each item in inventory, and to suggest reorder
quantities based on that activity.”
Key Reporting Principles (cont)
 Determine the data sources:
 Might need to combine data from
different databases:
 Determine what databases and database
table(s) will serve as the source of data,
and decide what data fields will be used
 Determine the data fields used to calculate
values appearing on the report
Key Reporting Principles (cont)
 Design each report for its intended user(s):
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Make sure the report contains all the information that its
users need and that it is formatted appropriately for its
target audience
 A report aimed at customers will be different to one
aimed at company employees and managers
 Reports serve more than simply the user of the
system E.G.  managers who rely on reports to
make important decisions
 Multiple individuals often use a single report, and
each might be interested in different aspects of the
report
Key Reporting Principles (cont)
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Reporting features:
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Graphs:
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Filter criteria:
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Show high-level information effectively
Allow users to filter out unneeded information
E.G.  Allow the user to display a report on the sales figures for a
specific region by prompting them to enter the required region
E.G.  Allow the user to include only data that applies to a certain time
period (sales transactions that occurred during the past three months)
Drill-down:
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For electronic reports, or web reports, display summarized information
and allowing the user to “drill down” to access additional data
Useful for improving navigation of long summary reports
Also reduces Web traffic and improves response times  only the
requested data is transferred from the database server
Key Reporting Principles (cont)
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Ensure the report is usable:
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Must useful, easy to read and use so users can easily
understand them
Review prototype reports with users and programmers for
their opinions
Also consider:
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Customization:
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Allow users to customize the format of the report and its look
and feel (E.G.  its fonts and colours etc …)
Drill-down
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Enhances usability and usefulness  users can tailor the
report’s content according to their decision making problem
Key Reporting Principles (cont)
 Place yourself in the user’s shoes to
determine:
 Whether a report contains the information the
user needs
 Whether it will be meaningful given what the
user knows
 Whether the information has been presented in
a way that it is easy to find and understand
Report Design Guidelines
 Support the corporate branding strategy:
 Include the company or organization logo or slogan
as part of all reports, particularly external reports
 All business documents should support the overall
corporate branding strategy to reinforce corporate
image
 Follow report design conventions:
 This makes it easier for users to use the reports
 Reports for a specific company or organization 
consider their report design conventions (formally
documented or informal  derives from existing
reports)
Report Design Guidelines (cont)
 Provide related supporting information:
 E.G.  in addition to company logo, an invoice
should show the company’s name, address, phone
and fax numbers, email address, Web address,
etc… to help the user easily direct payment to the
correct company
 Organize the information:
 Divide the report into logical, clearly labelled sections
that help readers find information quickly
Report Design Guidelines (cont)
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Make the report visually attractive:
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Guidelines:
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Do not cram data together; spacing is NB!  double spacing
will increase legibility
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Use shading for heavy textual information  shade lines in
alternate colours or shades making it easier to follow lines of
text across the page
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Break long sequences of alphanumeric data into small groups
of three to four characters each
Report Design Guidelines (cont)
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Make the report visually attractive:
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Guidelines (cont):
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Provide blank lines before and after subtotal and total lines
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Use regular font style, not bold, for the data area
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Use font sizes between 10pt & 12pt for the report body 
Sizes below 10pt are difficult to read and sizes above 13pt are
too large
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Use larger font sizes for headings and titles. The size chosen
should reflect the level of the heading or title within the
hierarchy of headings or titles
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Avoid overly fancy fonts
Report Design Guidelines (cont)
 Use only two or three different fonts:
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Choose one serif font and one san serif font. Make sure
the fonts offer the regular, bold, italic and bold italic
font styles
 The bold, italic, and bold italic styles enhance text
without using additional fonts.
 Serif fonts guide the reader’s eyes across lines of text
and are ideal for the body of a report
 Typical serif fonts include:
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Bookman
Garamond
Palatino
Times New Roman
Report Design Guidelines (cont)
 Use only two or three different fonts (cont):
 Ensure fonts are not too light (thin) or too heavy (thick)
 San serif fonts look “clean” and stand out from serif
fonts
 Use them for titles, headings and graphics captions
 Typical san serif fonts include:
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Antique Olive
Arial
Helvetica
Univers
SERIF FONTS
 Bookman Old Style
 Garamond
 Palatino
 Times New Roman
SANS SERIF FONTS
 Arial
 Century Gothic
 Tahoma
 Verdana
Report Design Guidelines (cont)
 Use consistent font faces:
 Use the same family of typefaces within and across
displays and reports
 Make reports easy to read:
 Use ordinary language and short sentences
 Avoid technical jargon
 Consider using graphs, tables and diagrams:
 For easy assimilation of information
 E.G.  a graph can be used instead of raw data, or a
diagram instead of a textual explanation
 Include explanatory text to describe the purpose of
diagrams, models, tables, drawings, etc …
Report Design Guidelines (cont)
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Use Web features to enhance reports:
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Determine report length and width:
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E.G.  hyperlinks to direct users to related reports or information,
tooltips providing information about the report
Max width = 132 or 80 print positions for dot-matrix or line printers
Laser and inkjet printers offer more flexibility  report length and
width can differ depending on the font size used
However, be consistent!
Consider margin requirements:
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Investigate binding and filing requirements before specifying margin
sizes
Horizontal binding  leave a generous top and bottom margin
Three-ring binding  provide a left margin
Whitespace on reports also allows users to write their own notes
Report Design Guidelines (cont)
 Identify the report:
 Include:
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Report title
Organization name
Run date
Period-ending date
A report or program code/name that will uniquely identify
the report
 Report title, source organization and relevant dates
 top of the report
 The reader must be able to immediately identify the
report
Report Design Guidelines (cont)
 Consider the placement of filing code and
identification numbers:
 Upper right-hand corner of a page
 Use page numbers:
 E.G.  “Page X of Y” format in case the last page (or
pages) is misplaced
 Consider page continuation indication:
 Provide some indication that printing is continued on
the next page
 E.G.  "Page 1 of 2”, “Continued on Page 2" and
"Continued from Page 1"
Report Design Guidelines (cont)
 Standardize the heading-identification
area:
 Place items in standard locations
 Uniformity is helpful to users
 Use standard formats:
 For headers, dates, logos, etc …
 Label all output fields:
 Use column headings to label detail lines
 Use adjacent descriptive words to label total
lines
Report Design Guidelines (cont)
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Position column headings and data fields properly:
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Numeric fields  column headings and data fields must be
justified to the right
Alphanumeric fields  column headings and data fields must
be placed in line with the leftmost limit of the data area
The headings should be clearly distinguished from the text in
the data area
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Repeat headings for new pages
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Group related information:
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Improves readability, provides order, and highlights
relationships between groups of information
Report Design Guidelines (cont)
 Use group indication for control fields
with repeating values:
 Data within control fields for detail lines are
usually repeated
 With group indication, the key-field column or
columns are printed only for the first detail line
of the group and for the first line of each new
page
 Not all report design tools allow for suppression
of repeating values
Understanding Control Break
Logic
 A control break is a temporary detour in the
logic of a program
 A control break program is when a change in
the value of a variable initiates special actions
or causes special or unusual processing to
occur
 If you have ever read a report that lists items
in groups, with each group followed by a
subtotal, then you have read a type of control
break report
Report Design Guidelines (cont)
Sample report
PAGE 1 of 5
DATE: 11 SEPTEMBER 2007
Heading
Area
Body Area
Footer
Area
Report Design Guidelines (cont)
 Sort data in a meaningful order:
 Makes the report more useful
 Determine control break conventions:
 E.G.  Start a new page for each control group or
section
 E.G.  Page break before printing report totals if
there are many totals
 Consider printing short detail lines in columns:
 Rather print two or more input detail records on a
single line
 Not always possible with particular report design
tools
Report Design Guidelines (cont)
 Allow sufficient space for numeric results:
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Provide room for the longest possible result of
arithmetic operations
 Consider inter-column space requirements:
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Consider the length of the total field, rather than the
length of the detail-line field
Ensure that there is at least two-character spacing
between columns
Choose suitable negative-value indication:
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Numeric fields should provide for negative values
Internal reports  minus sign (-)
External reports  “CR”
Report Design Guidelines (cont)
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Use appropriate field formatting:
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Use appropriate regional format specifications for fields
E.G.  dates and currency values
Numeric fields should be formatted correctly:
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Use underlining appropriately:
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Insert decimal points when necessary
Insert commas for amount fields that contain 4 or more digits
Print currency symbols (for example, "R") on formal financial reports
and cheques, otherwise include them in the column headings
Used for formal accounting reports; use it sparingly
Consider page totals for certain reports:
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For reports that require manual reconciliation and/or modifications to
numeric column amounts page totals help considerably
Report Design Guidelines (cont)
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Consider using asterisks to identify total levels:
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Asterisks next to a total amount help distinguish subtotals and totals
from detail amounts, and indicate the composition, or level, of the total
amount
E.G.  one asterisk might indicate a minor total, two an intermediate
total, and three a major total
Provide cheque protection for cheque amounts:
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When printing cheques, the amount of space allocated for the
monetary amount is usually much larger than the space needed to
print the largest possible amount
To prevent the leftmost unused space from being altered fraudulently
use a suitable protection method:
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Fill the amount with leading zeroes
Float the currency symbol (that is, place the currency symbol close to
the amount)
Fill the amount with asterisks
Report Design Guidelines (cont)
 Consider including useful totals:
 E.G.  a year-to-date total, or last
year’s totals
 Identify the end of the report:
 E.G.  print "***END OF REPORT***"
etc … to identify the end of the report so
that the reader is able to notice missing
pages at the end of the report more
easily
Conclusion
 Reports must be created for a reason,
must have a specific purpose, and
must be designed to be meaningful,
useful and easy to use