Questionaire For Design??

[Ryan]

Hello,
I've had no problems in the past developing databases for my company because
I have always been directly involved in what we do and so it has been easy to
develop an outline for the databases. I have taken on a new project that is
out side my realm. Does anybody have a great questionnaire that can be used
with the clients to gather the information required to create a great
database??

Any help would be appreciated

 

[Fred]

Database design responds to your "real world" information needs, it doesn't
dictate them.

 

[Jeff Boyce]

Ryan

I've found that questionnaires seldom capture the full information needed to
design/build an application that meets the clients' needs.

That isn't to say that a questionnaire can't capture some of the
information, but there are many pieces of the puzzle that never show up that
way.

Are you saying that you've been told that you have to create an application
for a set of users you don't get to talk with?! Interesting constraint ...
did they want fries with that? <g>

Regards

Jeff Boyce
Microsoft Office/Access MVP

 

[Ryan]

No I am just looking for a starting point.

 

[Jeff Boyce]

Ryan

Hopefully you will get some responses.

I know that there are innumerable 'formal' systems designed to elicit
requirements. The ones I'm familiar with tend to focus on providing a
questioner (?!YOU?!) with steps to follow to elicit requirements. As for a
canned set of questions to ask, ... not so much!

Good luck!

Regards

Jeff Boyce
Microsoft Office/Access MVP

 

[M Skabialka]

What do they need to get out of the database when they have finished doing
their data entry?
What reports do they need - where does each piece of data on the report come
from? You will need forms to capture that.
How many different ways do they want to see the data? By date, location,
size, person...??
What do they want to be able to see all at once while they are doing data
entry?
What are the major groups of information - people, actions, products,
locations ... how are they tied together?

I don't think it would be easy to come up with a questionnaire that suits
every database design. You just have to do a lot of listening. What do
they want to know from the stored information? Gear the data gathering to
that.
And don't forget the MS templates to give you ideas. Some of them now have
very professional looking form layouts that are worth copying too.

Mich

 

[Roger Carlson]

Candace Tripp has created a client questionaire to gather database
requirements. I've used in my college classes. It's pretty useful. You
can find it here: http://www.candace-tripp.com/utterangel.aspx. Go to the
very bottom of the page.

--
--Roger Carlson
MS Access MVP
Access Database Samples: www.rogersaccesslibrary.com
Want answers to your Access questions in your Email?
Free subscription:
http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=ACCESS-L

 

[Roger Carlson]

I should also mention that in Michael Hernandez' book "Database Design for
Mere Mortals", he gives a very detailed process for interviewing customers
about their database needs. This might prove useful to you too.

--
--Roger Carlson
MS Access MVP
Access Database Samples: www.rogersaccesslibrary.com
Want answers to your Access questions in your Email?
Free subscription:
http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=ACCESS-L

 

[tina]

in addition to the good responses already posted...

i usually try to look a bit beyond the parameters of the process that i've
been asked to support with an Access application; i call the concept "where
did it come from, and where is it going". in a company or organization of
any size, very often the process you're working to support is only part of
the total work process. looking beyond the immediate requirements of the
data/user(s) you're building for, you can sometimes uncover issues that will
need to be addressed in your design, and sometimes streamline parts of the
process that nobody had any idea could be improved upon. and sometimes not;
but it usually pays to broaden your scope a bit during the process analysis
phase of development.

hth

 

[Jeff Boyce]

Total agreement!

It's very rare that a process operates in isolation in an organization.

Regards

Jeff Boyce
Microsoft Office/Access MVP

 

[tina]

i work for a fairly small company; i can fill my water bottle at the sink
without impacting anyone else, but i think that's the *only* task i do all
day long that doesn't bump somebody else's elbow - or several somebodys' !
<g>