In the first stage of the development, you determine what the user needs and expects.
While it may be tempting to skip this stage and start building right away, it is not a
good idea to do so. Without a clear understanding of the users and their reporting
needs, it is virtually impossible to create effective enterprise reports.
To define user requirements:
1) Gather relevant policies, business rules, and existing documentation
2) Observe users and their daily job activities
3) Interview a wide variety of users
Helpful questions to help you determine the user requirements:
1) What data will people want, and in what priority?
2) How is the data stored?
3) Is there a corporate standard that must be met? If so, define standard templates.
4) Will users want Web reports, paper reports, or both?
5) For Web reports, will the reports be static or dynamic?
6) Will users want charts in the report? If so, what data will be used in the graph?
7) Will users want to drill down on data? If so, plan on using hyperlinks.
8) Will users want to specify input parameters? If so, you need to create the necessary
parameters and establish the validation rules.
9) Will users want a report to be embedded in a form? If so, you will have to call the
report from a form and have the form pass the data to the report.
10) Will the same report serve different types of users? If so, you need to think about
report sectioning and report distribution.
11) Will the users want run-time customizations? If so, plan on using XML files.
While it may be tempting to skip this stage and start building right away, it is not a
good idea to do so. Without a clear understanding of the users and their reporting
needs, it is virtually impossible to create effective enterprise reports.
To define user requirements:
1) Gather relevant policies, business rules, and existing documentation
2) Observe users and their daily job activities
3) Interview a wide variety of users
Helpful questions to help you determine the user requirements:
1) What data will people want, and in what priority?
2) How is the data stored?
3) Is there a corporate standard that must be met? If so, define standard templates.
4) Will users want Web reports, paper reports, or both?
5) For Web reports, will the reports be static or dynamic?
6) Will users want charts in the report? If so, what data will be used in the graph?
7) Will users want to drill down on data? If so, plan on using hyperlinks.
8) Will users want to specify input parameters? If so, you need to create the necessary
parameters and establish the validation rules.
9) Will users want a report to be embedded in a form? If so, you will have to call the
report from a form and have the form pass the data to the report.
10) Will the same report serve different types of users? If so, you need to think about
report sectioning and report distribution.
11) Will the users want run-time customizations? If so, plan on using XML files.
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