Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
these not something more suitable to marketing types than engineers?
Because of this gap and the different mental models out there, it is better
that the user whiteboard some report designs rather than leave it to the
engineers to take the initiative and deliver “the reports that can come out
of the system.”
Reports, like many other things, can be misused and misinterpreted.
If some managers are looking for data to support untenable positions,
then poorly designed reports play into their hands because smudgy data
can be interpreted in many different ways. Other decision makers may
use the report to find data to support their initial hunch, rather than
analyzing the data and drawing a strongly supported conclusion. A report
should therefore be designed in a way that it leads to unambiguous
conclusions.
Avoiding the Last Mile of Reporting Problem
There are very few cases where data presented by reports is used without
any post-processing. It is fairly common to see data being exported from
a report to a spreadsheet so that some more processing can be done on
it. In fact, many well-known software packages have touted the “Export
to Excel” button on their GUI (graphical user interface) as a great usability
feature. Should this be considered a failure of a report editor? Why can
this last mile of data processing also not be handled? The fact that post-
processing of a report delivered at great cost is still required only shows
that report design still has some way to go.
Surveys show that managers are extremely frustrated at having to
spend, on average, 500 to 750 hours per year (one third to one half of
their year's work) searching for relevant information on the Internet.
Types of Reports
Reports can be of many kinds. Two of them are (1) informational reports
and (2) analytical reports. The former focuses on presenting relevant facts
clearly and concisely; while the latter focuses on the analysis and inter-
pretation of data, to make recommendations.
Many designers do not recognize that reports come in various forms,
including snapshot, trend analysis, transaction reports, comparison reports,
statutory reports, summary reports, drill-down reports, analytical reports,
and consolidated reports, to name a few. They do not make a conscious
effort to select the report type most appropriate for the context of use.
