Download Chapter 8

Lead Black Slide
Chapter 8
Personal Productivity
and
Problem Solving
© 2001 Business & Information Systems 2/e
2
Our Agenda
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Improving Personal Productivity
Managing Stored Data
Analyzing Data
Presenting Information
Locating and Retrieving Information
Using the Internet
© 2001 Business & Information Systems 2/e
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Our Agenda (cont’d.)
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Solving Problems with Personal
Applications
The Problem-solving Process
© 2001 Business & Information Systems 2/e
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Learning Objectives
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Explain how individual information
systems can improve personal
productivity.
Explain how stored data is managed
with database software.
Describe how data is analyzed in a
spreadsheet and why spreadsheet
software makes the analysis easier.
© 2001 Business & Information Systems 2/e
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Learning Objectives (cont’d.)
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Describe several types of software used
to prepare information for presentation
to others.
Explain how data management, data
analysis, and information presentation
applications can be combined.
Describe how the Internet can be used
to locate and retrieve information.
© 2001 Business & Information Systems 2/e
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Learning Objectives (cont’d.)
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Explain how personal computer
applications are used to help individuals
solve problems.
Explain the meaning of end-user
computing.
Describe the activities in the problemsolving process.
© 2001 Business & Information Systems 2/e
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Improving Personal
Productivity
Personal Productivity
and
Problem Solving
© 2001 Business & Information Systems 2/e
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Improving Personal
Productivity
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Productivity has to do with how much a
person contributes to a business in a
period of time.
Individual information systems include
computer applications that assist
individuals in storing and analyzing
data, presenting information and in
locating and retrieving information on
the Internet.
© 2001 Business & Information Systems 2/e
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Managing Stored Data
Personal Productivity
and
Problem Solving
© 2001 Business & Information Systems 2/e
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Managing Stored Data
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Individual information systems often
require that data be stored in secondary
storage in either data files or databases.
Using a database to manage data
consists of three main functions:
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Creating a database
Accessing a database
Updating or changing a database
© 2001 Business & Information Systems 2/e
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Creating a Database
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Creating a database consists of two
main steps:
1. Entering a description of the structure of
the data and the relationships.
2. Entering the initial data in the database,
a process sometimes called populating
the database.
© 2001 Business & Information Systems 2/e
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Accessing a Database
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Accessing data means retrieving the
data from the database in secondary
storage and bringing it into primary
storage.
© 2001 Business & Information Systems 2/e
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Updating a Database
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Updating a database involves three
main tasks:
1. Adding new data to the database
2. Deleting old data in the database
3. Changing data in the database
© 2001 Business & Information Systems 2/e
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Analyzing Data
Personal Productivity
and
Problem Solving
© 2001 Business & Information Systems 2/e
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Analyzing Data
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The most widely used analytical
software is spreadsheet software.
A spreadsheet is an arrangement of
data into rows and columns that is used
to analyze the data.
With spreadsheet software an individual
creates an electronic spreadsheet, or
worksheet.
© 2001 Business & Information Systems 2/e
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Analyzing Data (cont’d.)
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One of the main reasons for making
changes in a worksheet is to see what
would happen to other figures when
changes are made. This technique is
called what-if-analysis.
© 2001 Business & Information Systems 2/e
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Presenting Information
Personal Productivity
and
Problem Solving
© 2001 Business & Information Systems 2/e
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Presenting Information
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Information is prepared for presentation
in a text form by using word processing
software.
Functions available in word processing
software include:
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Formatting text by selecting the font, the
font size, and font style.
Editing the existing text.
Printing the document.
© 2001 Business & Information Systems 2/e
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Presenting Information
(cont’d.)
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Information is prepared for presentation
in a graphical or pictorial form by using
computer graphics software.
Examples include:
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Charts or graphs
Diagrams
Graphic designs
Realistic images
Computer art
© 2001 Business & Information Systems 2/e
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Presenting Information
(cont’d.)
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Common types of computer graphics
software include:
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Charting software
Drawing software
Presentation graphics software
Computer-Aided Design (CAD) software
© 2001 Business & Information Systems 2/e
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Presenting Information
(cont’d.)
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Information is prepared for presentation
in a published form by using desktop
publishing software.
The functions of desktop publishing
(DTP) software are similar to those of
word processing, except that some
capabilities are more sophisticated.
© 2001 Business & Information Systems 2/e
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Presenting Information
(cont’d.)
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Information is prepared for presentation
in multimedia form using special
software.
Elements of the presentation include
text, graphics, animation, video, sound,
voice, music and other forms.
After all parts have been prepared, they
are brought together using authoring
software.
© 2001 Business & Information Systems 2/e
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Locating and Retrieving
Information Using the
Internet
Personal Productivity
and
Problem Solving
© 2001 Business & Information Systems 2/e
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Searching the World Wide Web
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A browser lets a user follow links from
one Web page to another to locate
information.
A better approach is to use a search
engine.
© 2001 Business & Information Systems 2/e
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Searching the World Wide Web
(cont’d.)
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Three main types of search engines
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A directory that contains references to Web
pages. Example - Yahoo
Locating pages on the Web periodically by
sending programs, sometimes called spiders,
over the Web to look for new pages.
Example – Alta Vista
A meta-search engine does not search the
Web, rather other search engines. Example
- MetaCrawler
© 2001 Business & Information Systems 2/e
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Searching the World Wide Web
(cont’d.)
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A portal is a Web site that provides
multiple services for its users.
Searching the Web using a browser can
be thought of as pulling information into
the users computer.
Having information sent to you
automatically uses a technique called
push technology.
© 2001 Business & Information Systems 2/e
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Searching the World Wide Web
(cont’d.)
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For information obtained from the Web,
the user must carefully analyze the
credibility of the source of the
information to ensure that what is
received is accurate and relevant.
© 2001 Business & Information Systems 2/e
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Solving Problems with
Personal Applications
Personal Productivity
and
Problem Solving
© 2001 Business & Information Systems 2/e
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Problems, Solutions and
Solution Procedures
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A problem is a question to which
someone does not know the answer, or
a statement of something to be done.
The solution to a problem is the answer
to the problem question or the result of
doing what is required by the problem
statement.
© 2001 Business & Information Systems 2/e
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Problems, Solutions and
Solution Procedures (cont’d.)
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A solution procedure is a set of steps
that, if carried out, results in the
solution of a problem.
© 2001 Business & Information Systems 2/e
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Problems, Solutions and
Solution Procedures (cont’d.)
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One of the main tasks in computer
problem solving is determining the
solution procedure needed to solve the
problem. This task can be stated as
follows: Given a problem, a person
must figure out what steps the
computer has to go through to solve
the problem.
© 2001 Business & Information Systems 2/e
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End-User Computing
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End-user computing is the development
and use of personal computer
applications by end users.
The user identifies the problems to be
solved, decides on the appropriate
software, determines the appropriate
procedures, customizes the software, and
uses the software to develop a solution.
© 2001 Business & Information Systems 2/e
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The Problem-Solving Process
Personal Productivity
and
Problem Solving
© 2001 Business & Information Systems 2/e
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The Problem-Solving Process
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The five main activities of the
problem-solving process are:
1. Understand and define the problem
2. Design the solution procedure
3. Implement the solution procedure, using
the selected software
4. Test the software implementation and
correct any errors
5. Document the result
© 2001 Business & Information Systems 2/e
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Problem Definition
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At a minimum the problem definition
should include descriptions of the
following:
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The output to be produced and its layout.
The input data available and how it will be
entered.
The calculations to be performed.
Other processing to be done.
© 2001 Business & Information Systems 2/e
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Software Selection
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Determine the appropriate type of
software that will be used to implement
the solution procedure. The most
common alternatives are database,
spreadsheet, word processing, graphics
software, and statistical software,
among others.
© 2001 Business & Information Systems 2/e
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Solution Procedure Design
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Steps necessary to solve the problem
must be carefully planned.
Written notes should be made of the
solution procedure.
The designing activity does not involve
setting up the software to solve the
problem.
© 2001 Business & Information Systems 2/e
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Software Implementation
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Completing the implementation requires
knowing how to use the software
selected.
Spreadsheet software requires that the
numbers, text and formulas be entered.
Database software requires that the
data is defined and entered, and that
the query specifications and formats of
forms and reports be created.
© 2001 Business & Information Systems 2/e
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Implementation Testing
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The user must test the software
implementation to see it there are any
errors.
Three types of errors:
1. Syntax error – an error in a command.
2. Execution error – errors appearing during
execution of the software.
3. Logic error – generally resulting in
incorrect output.
© 2001 Business & Information Systems 2/e
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Documentation
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Documentation is a general term used
for any written description of a
computer application.
Two types of documentation
1. User documentation – provides information
so the user can understand how to use the
software.
2. Developer documentation – is for the
person who developed the software.
© 2001 Business & Information Systems 2/e
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Personal Productivity and
Problem Solving
Key Terms
© 2001 Business & Information Systems 2/e
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Key Terms
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Authoring Software
Bug
Charting Software
Computer-Aided Design
(CAD) Software
Debugging
Desktop Publishing
Desktop Publishing
Software
© 2001 Business & Information Systems 2/e
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Documentation
Drawing Software
Integrated Software
Portal
Presentation Graphics
Software
Problem
Push Technology
Search Engine
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Key Terms (cont’d.)
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Solutions
Solution Procedure
Spreadsheet
Suite
Testing
What-if Analysis
Word Processing
Worksheet
© 2001 Business & Information Systems 2/e
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Summary
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Improving Personal Productivity
Managing Stored Data
Analyzing Data
Presenting Information
Locating and Retrieving Information
Using the Internet
© 2001 Business & Information Systems 2/e
45
Summary (cont’d.)


Solving Problems with Personal
Applications
The Problem-solving Process
© 2001 Business & Information Systems 2/e
46
Final Black Slide