Year 11 · ICT · Summer 2 · After the exams

A project of their choice: plan

ProjectPresent ▶

What this lesson covers

7.1 Analysis

Cambridge IGCSE ICT 0417 · Topic 7: The systems life cycle · Paper 1

9.1 Audience appreciation

Cambridge IGCSE ICT 0417 · Topic 9: Audience · Paper 1

You will learn to

Write a short brief for a project: a website, a data story or a video.
Identify the audience and describe how it shapes the design.
Create a success list where every line can be checked as yes or no.
Choose the software you need and justify the choice.

Success criteria

I can say what my project is and who it is for in two sentences.
I can name two design choices that suit my audience.
I can show a success list my teacher agrees is checkable.

The syllabus points for these sections

Describe observation, interviews, questionnaires and examining documents.
Give advantages and disadvantages of each research method.
Identify inputs, outputs, processing and problems of the current system.
Identify user requirements and information requirements.
Write a system specification for hardware and software.
Explain why a solution must be planned for its audience.
Describe how age, experience, expectations and knowledge affect a design.
Explain how the purpose of a product affects its design.
Suggest design choices that suit a given audience.

Key words

Say each word, then read what it means. Every one is in the glossary too.

Systems life cycle: The stages used to create a new system: analysis, design, development and testing, implementation, documentation, evaluation.
Systems analyst: The person who studies the current system and plans the new one.
Questionnaire: A set of written questions given to many people to collect their views.
System specification: A list of the hardware and software the new system needs.
Check digit: An extra digit calculated from the other digits, used to detect input errors.
Data capture form: A paper or on-screen form used to collect data.
Test plan: A table listing each test, its data, the expected and actual outcomes and any remedial action.
Live data: Real data from the organisation, used to test the system with known results.
Evaluation: Judging the finished system against the original requirements after it has been used.
Audience: The group of people a product is made for.
Audience appreciation: Understanding the audience's needs and planning a product to suit them.
Purpose: The job a product must do, such as inform, persuade, entertain or sell.
Expectations: What users expect a product to look like and be able to do.
Accessibility: Designing so that people with disabilities or extra needs can use a product.
Software piracy: Illegally copying, sharing or selling software.
Product key: A unique code entered during installation to prove the copy is genuine.

The explanation

Read it here, or open the study page below to go one step at a time with things to try.

7.1 Analysis

What a system is and why there is a life cycle

A system is a way of doing a job: the people, the data, the steps and the equipment.

The systems life cycle is the order of stages used to build a new system. Each stage feeds the next.

The stages are: analysis, design, development and testing, implementation, documentation, evaluation.

A systems analyst is the person who studies the old system and plans the new one.

e.g.Example

A school library uses paper cards to record loans. Books go missing and nobody knows who has them. The head asks a systems analyst to build a computer system for loans.

?Why?

Working in stages means problems are found early, when they are cheap to fix. A mistake found after the system is live costs far more.

Research method 1 and 2: observation and interviews

Observation means watching people use the current system.

Interviews mean asking people questions face to face, one at a time.

Both methods help the analyst understand the current system before designing a new one.

Method	Advantages	Disadvantages
Observation	The analyst sees what really happens, not what people say happens. Reliable first-hand data. Fairly cheap: only the analyst's time.	People may work differently because they know they are watched (the Hawthorne effect). It can take a long time. Some tasks are not seen if they happen rarely.
Interviews	Questions can be changed during the interview to follow up answers. The analyst can see body language. People can explain problems in detail.	Very time-consuming, so only a few people can be interviewed. Expensive (analyst and staff away from work). People may give answers they think the analyst wants. Not anonymous.

e.g.Example

Library example: Observation: the analyst sits at the desk for a morning and watches loans being written on cards. Interview: the analyst asks the head librarian what goes wrong most often.

Research method 3 and 4: questionnaires and examining documents

A questionnaire is a set of written questions given to many people, on paper or online.

Examining documents means reading the papers and files the current system uses: forms, invoices, reports.

Analysts usually use more than one method, so the weaknesses of one are covered by another.

Method	Advantages	Disadvantages
Questionnaires	Reach many people quickly and cheaply. Can be anonymous, so answers are more honest. People answer when it suits them. Answers are easy to analyse, especially tick boxes.	Many people do not return them. Questions cannot be explained or changed. People may misunderstand a question. Tick boxes limit the answers people can give.
Examining documents	Shows exactly what data the system holds and the format it uses. Helps decide inputs and outputs. Does not interrupt staff.	Very time-consuming to read everything. Documents may be out of date or hard to understand. Costly, because of the analyst's time.

e.g.Example

Library example: Questionnaire: 600 students answer 8 tick-box questions online about how they borrow books. Examining documents: the analyst reads the loan cards and the overdue-letter template.

!Watch out

In exam answers, give an advantage and a disadvantage that fit the scenario. 'It is quick' alone rarely earns a mark. Say quick compared with what, for example 'quicker than interviewing 600 students one by one'.

What the analysis must find out

The analyst records the inputs (data going in), processing (what is done to the data) and outputs (results coming out) of the current system.

The analyst also lists the problems with the current system.

From this come the user requirements (what the users need the system to do) and the information requirements (what information the system must produce).

Finally the analyst writes a system specification: the hardware and software the new system needs.

Item	Library example
Inputs	Student ID, book ISBN, date of loan
Processing	Work out the return date, check if a book is overdue
Outputs	Loan receipt, list of overdue books, reminder emails
Problems	Cards get lost, overdue books are not chased
User requirement	A librarian can record a loan in under 30 seconds
Information requirement	A weekly report of overdue books by tutor group
Hardware specification	PC, barcode reader, receipt printer
Software specification	Database software, operating system, email software

?Why?

The hardware and software choices depend on the requirements. For example, scanning book barcodes needs a barcode reader, and storing thousands of records needs enough storage.

9.1 Audience appreciation

What audience appreciation means

The audience is the group of people who will read, watch or use a product.

Audience appreciation means understanding their needs and planning the product to suit them.

The designer finds out about the audience first, often with questionnaires, interviews or observation, the same methods used in the systems life cycle.

e.g.Example

The same school trip information could be: a colourful poster with big pictures for Year 7 students, a formal letter with costs and dates for parents, a spreadsheet with budgets for the head teacher.

?Why?

If the audience is ignored, people find the product hard to use, boring or confusing. They stop using it, and the time and money spent is wasted.

Four things to know about the audience

Cambridge names four characteristics: age, experience, expectations and knowledge.

Each one changes the design choices.

Characteristic	Questions to ask	Effect on the design
Age	Children, teenagers, adults, older people?	Young children: large text, simple words, bright colours, pictures, sound. Older people: larger fonts, high contrast, simple layout.
Experience	Have they used computers or this kind of product before?	Beginners: clear instructions, help screens, few options. Experts: shortcuts, more features, less explanation.
Expectations	What do they expect to see or be able to do?	Users expect a shop site to have a basket and search box. A product that does not meet expectations looks unprofessional.
Knowledge	What do they already know about the subject?	Experts accept technical terms. A general audience needs plain words and a glossary.

!Watch out

In the exam, link each feature to a reason. 'Use large font' earns less than 'use a large font because young children are still learning to read'.

Design choices you can change

Once the audience is known, the designer adjusts the parts of the product.

The most common choices are language, layout, colour, font, images and multimedia, and the level of interaction.

Feature	Young children	Business adults
Language	Short sentences, simple words	Formal, technical terms allowed
Font	Large, clear, sans-serif	Smaller, professional, consistent house style
Colour	Bright, many colours	Limited, corporate colours
Images and media	Cartoons, animation, sound	Charts, graphs, photos
Amount of text	Very little	More detail is fine
Interaction	Big buttons, simple games	Menus, search, filters

?Why?

Every choice either makes the product easier for this audience or harder. The aim is to remove anything that gets in their way.

Purpose: what the product is for

The purpose is the job the product must do: inform, persuade, entertain, teach or sell.

The purpose affects the content and style as much as the audience does.

A designer must think about both together: who is it for, and what must it achieve?

e.g.Example

Audience: Year 7 students. Purpose: teach road safety. Design: short animated video, simple words, a 5-question quiz at the end, a cartoon character as a guide. Audience: parents. Purpose: persuade them to join the school parents' association. Design: one-page leaflet, friendly but formal tone, clear benefits, date and contact details in bold.

Accessibility for all users

Some members of an audience have extra needs: poor eyesight, colour blindness, dyslexia, hearing loss or limited movement.

Good designs help them: text that can be enlarged, high contrast, alternative text for images, captions on video, clear sans-serif fonts and keyboard control.

These features often make the product easier for everyone.

?Why?

Ignoring accessibility shuts some people out. Many countries, including Spain, also require public websites to be accessible.

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