WHAT IS DESIGN
, usually considered in the context of applied arts, engineering,
architecture, and other creative endeavors, is used both as a noun and
a verb. As a verb, "to design" refers to the process of originating and
developing a plan for a product, structure, system, or component.
As a noun, "a design" is used for either the final (solution) plan
(e.g. proposal, drawing, model, description) or the result of
mplementing that plan (e.g. object produced, result of the process).
More recently, processes (in general) have also been treated as
products of design, giving new meaning to the term "process design".
Designing normally requires a designer to consider the aesthetic,
functional, and many other aspects of an object or a process,
which usually requires considerable research, thought, modeling,
interactive adjustment, and re-design.
Structured Systems Analysis and Design Method (SSADM)
is a systems approach to the analysis and design of information
systems.SSADM was produced for the CCTA, a UK government office
concerned with the use of technology in government, from 1980 onwards.
The names "Structured Systems Analysis and Design Method" and "SSADM"
are now Registered Trade Marks of the Office of Government Commerce
(OGC), which is an Office of the United Kingdom's Treasury.
SSADM is a waterfall method by which an Information System design can
be arrived at; SSADM can be thought to represent a pinnacle of the
rigorous document-led approach to system design, and contrasts with more
contemporary Rapid Application Development methods such as DSDM.
SSADM is one particular implementation and builds on the work of
different schools of development methods.
ISSUES IN DESIGN CREATION
Design Creation is a USA based Business Process Outsourcing (BPO)
service providers having its state of art processing center at new
Delhi, Mumbai, Patna, India, providing a broad range of IT services in
Contact Center Processing and Business Process Outsourcing to transform
your entire enterprise planning, processes, information technology
and people. Design Creation has been one of the companies that has
defied the odds and has been leading from the front with a remarkable
ability to understand, adopt, benefit and emerge stronger.
Design Creation is specializing in web design, development, e-commerce
solution and web site maintenance services for all kinds of business
requirements. We pride ourselves in economy, quality, accessibility and
customer satisfaction.
We believe in a long term relationship through commitment and close
alignment throughout and after an execution cycle. We believe in Quality
Work, Customer Satisfaction, Long Term Support and Maintenance.
CHARACTERISTIC OF A GOOD DESIGN
Quality content on your website can provide users with the information
they are looking for. Content also allows you to establish yourself as
an expert in your field. When your website visitors are looking to make
a purchase they will feel more comfortable with your products and
services if you have built their trust and confidence through what you have
written on your website.
Keyword-filled content is also crucial for getting high search engine
rankings. Most internet users trust search engines to help them find
what they are looking for. Taking the time to create high quality content
can have huge payoffs through increased search engine rankings.
Simple and Attractive Design
The design of a good website should be simple, yet professional. The
design should not take away or distract from the content. Websites with
excessive use of Flash and moving images can be very distracting. Use
design to help you get your message to visitors, not to distract them
from the message. Colors should not be hard on the eyes, and text should
be easy to read.
Easy Navigation
Navigation and links provide opportunities to incorporate design
elements in to the website; however, navigation schemes should not be so
elaborate that the user has trouble knowing where to click to move to
another page. The average visitor’s attention span is a matter of seconds,
and if it is hard to find what he or she is looking for, you will loose
that visitor very quickly. Links to your most important pages should be
easily found on every page. A good rule of thumb is that every page
should be accessible in two clicks from your home page (this may not be
possible with larger sites).
DOCUMENTATING THE DESIGN
We can’t escape the need for documentation. Pictures aren’t detailed
enough, but words aren’t clear enough. Engineers sit down and program
modules. They should be able to sit down with one sheet of paper, maybe
front and back, and code a module without interruptions. They shouldn’t
have to swim through half a dozen documents, go back and forth asking
questions about details that were overlooked.
If we’re so concerned about interfaces and humans, it’s time we start
giving the interface to our documentation the innovation and atttention
that we give to the rest of our interfaces. I hate talking about things
before they’re finished, but I couldn’t contain my
excitement/frustration anymore.
PROGRAMMING STANDARD AND PROCEDURE
The Statistical Standards Program provides methodological and
statistical support to the Center, as well as to federal and nonfederal
organizations that engage in statistical work in support of the mission of
NCES.
This Program develops standards for procedures to ensure the quality of
statistical surveys, analyses and products; consults and advises on
the implementation of standards for all Center projects; coordinates the
review and adjudication process for publications and other Center
products; led the NCES Task Force on Quality Systems; and coordinated the
revision of the NCES Statistical Standards. The Program also monitors and
administers confidentiality procedures and related restricted use data
licenses for Center data products. In addition to this set of ongoing
activities, the Statistical Standards Program consults and advises on
emerging statistical issues; and initiates and monitors or participates
in long-term statistical; and methodological research projects.
DOCUMENTATION
In general terms, documentation is any communicable material (such as
text, video, audio, etc., or combinations thereof) used to explain some
attributes of an object, system or procedure. It is often used to mean
engineering or software documentation, which is usually paper books or
computer readable files (such as HTML pages) that describe the
structure and components, or on the other hand, operation, of a system/product.
A professional whose field and work is more or less exclusively to
write documentation is called a documenter. Normally, documenters are
trained or have a background in technical writing, along with some knowledge
of the subject(s) they are documenting. Often, though, some part or
all of the documentation process is done by the engineers responsible for
the system/product to be documented.
By engineers, perhaps among software engineers in particular,
documentation is often referred to as the "boring side" of engineering, or
considered a necessary evil. This is largely unavoidable since most
engineers prefer building things to documenting them, and being implicit
experts in what they have built, they may have little motivation in
documenting their creations so that others may understand them.
Common types of computer hardware/software documentation include online
help, FAQs, HowTos, and user guide s. The term RTFM is often used in
regard to such documentation, especially to computer hardware and
software user guides.
A common type of software document frequently written by software
engineers in the simulation industry is the SDF (software documentation
folder). While developing the software for a simulator, which can range
from embedded avionics devices to 3D terrain databases to full motion
control systems, the engineer keeps a notebook detailing the development
lifecycle of the project. The notebook can contain a requirements
section, an interface section detailing the communication interface of the
software, a notes section to detail the proof of concept attempts to track
what worked or didn't work in solving certain problems, and a testing
section to detail how the software will be tested to prove conformance
to the requirements of the contract. The end result is a detailed
description of how the software is designed, how to build and install the
software on the target device, and any known weaknesses in the design of
the software. This document will allow future developers and
maintainers of the trainer to come up to speed on the software design in as short
a time as possible and have a documented reference when modifying code
or searching for bugs.