Overview of project
I have been asked by the manager to help update the current system. He has specified that he would like to see a system that allows him to organise customers more efficiently and effectively, therefore eliminating any chance of double booking clients. The organisation of customers has been a problem for a while so he would like to rectify his lack of inward investment.
Initial Investigation of the current system
Before looking any further into the project I must know what already exists and what I am changing. I could find out this information by interviewing the general manager, who I believe will know a lot about the layout and setup of his system.
Volumes of data
The amount of data basically relies on, for this system, the amount of customers that the salon has over a period. The manager described to me the nature of the business, and that the salon only has a scope over a certain area. In simple terms the salon will not have regular customers coming from all over the country. Although there may be a few from time to time that come from other parts of the country the majority of the customers will be from around the area that the salon is based. Also from asking one of the employees I have learned that the customer – therapist bond is very strong, and once a customer has one therapist for a treatment they often stay loyal and will give regular custom to that particular therapist. Therefore I will need to be able to implement a system that allows the user to book customer according to which employee they would like to have.
Bookings
The staff regularly makes bookings for each day, it is part of their job detail and they are expected to be able to take bookings from customers and change clients from therapist to therapist, depending on whether the client decides to change time. A problem that the employees have encountered is that of double booking. New employees that do not know the system like their more mature counterparts most often do this.
Products
There is a list of products that is updated each month. With new products and services being added and taken away each month it doesn’t take long before the treatment list is outdated and there has to be a new one made. This is due to the inane scribblings that take up the paper, with treatments being crossed out and added it does make the list quite messy. The employees have expressed their desire to have an output that enables them to print a report showing details of all of the treatments.
Integration with existing bookings system
The integration of the system will co-inside with the process of the staff learning how to use the new system. The staff would like to have this ‘settling in’ period so that they can use the old system if they become confused. The manager intimated that he didn’t want to involve the accounts with this system yet, so it will be unnecessary. The reason he gave for this is that he didn’t want to implicate the project with financial worries. If the overall system doesn’t work to his satisfaction or is not exactly what he wanted then he could revert back to the old system and not have lost any money.
The Current System
All members of the beauty salon use the current system, and any advance on this should be compatible with their skills and attainment. Between them they currently handle jobs such as the process of dealing with customers. A meeting was called to ascertain what methods are currently used with the system and to look at any improvements that the staff would like to see.
At the moment the methods that are used are:
- The use of a single book containing booking times for clients. There is no information that the beauty salon can access on individuals unless they go through the long and drawn out process of going to the main reception and asking for data to be released on the customers. It is important that the staff have this information for things such as health forms that hold data such as the client’s allergies.
- A long and drawn out method of adding new customers to the system. It involves the customer filling out a long form to collect personal details. It usually involves the customer coming into the salon and doing it either there and then or taking it home to do and returning it at a later date. This method is not economical as it means that the consumer demanding the product is unable to achieve it straight away. They must go through a method of filling in forms, which to my knowledge puts customers off. If this could be done more efficiently this would be a great advantage because the salon would be able to take bookings immediately rather than waiting for the customers to be added (by hand) to the filing system.
Problems
Problem 1
A problem that the staff have indicated, which is troubling them is the use of an old bookings schedule for the customers time slots for their appointments. The staff has often double booked customers for a time slot that is already in use. This has made a lot of people very angry and the beauty salon has lost a number of customers in this way. They also mentioned the need for a database for the regular customers that can be viewed to easily and quickly look at previous appointments and health related information.
Problem 2
Adding customers to the salon’s membership list takes a very long time and is not efficient enough in this day and age. It means that new customers are unable to have treatments when they want them because their details have to be added by hand to the client list.
- Save valuable time that can be spent in better ways.
- Be user friendly.
- Do the job as well if not better.
- Be a benefit to the user and not a hindrance.
Outline of problems
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Current system is too slow.
- Current system is not efficient.
- Current system is too much of a liability – booking clients is not always 100% accurate and data is often found to be incorrect.
- Current system is out of date – the old pen and paper technique is certainly out of date and could be greatly improved on with the aid of modern management techniques.
Possible methods that I can think of are:
- A new bookings system where a employees use a new style of calendar book which only lets you insert one name for a specific time slot. Problems with this would still be the fact that the writing may not be legible. Also if a customer cancels their appointment a new customer couldn’t replace this because the slot would already be filled in the calendar.
- Using a spreadsheet system to hold data on concerning the customers. This is primarily the main contender for which system to use as it has been specifically requested by the end user. Benefits for this would include the fact that the text would be legible to the reader and also that the system would be quick and accurate.
Performance Indicators
Performance indicators highlight the way in which I intend the system to work. They include:
- Data input should be user friendly so that no mistakes are made.
- Client bookings should be able to be entered within 20 seconds.
- Clear printouts should be able to be made of product orders.
- Entering products to be ordered should be user friendly and fast.
Hardware & Software
The specifications for the system I am designing will relate to the hardware and software that it is being designed on. Therefore to run a basic system the user will first need:
- A PC with a minimum speed of 250Mhz and a disk space of at least 1 gigabyte.
- A Windows Operating System.
- Microsoft Excel/Access.
- A copy of the software.
- A form of removable data storage such as a 3.5” floppy disk so that the user can make a backup copy of the work.
Other things that are recommended are:
- An anatomically designed keyboard to prevent wrist ache associated problems.
- Adjustable screen height.
- A rest for the wrist on the mouse-mat to prevent wrist ache.
- A virus checker utility programme to check disks and memory for viruses and delete them if detected.
Users skill level
The users will vary in the competence level of computer literacy. There will be one main user that has finished an ICT skills course and is fairly competent.
- Have basic knowledge of the Microsoft Windows operating system.
- This is so that if the machine crashes at any stage the user will know how to act and will be able to re-start the system with minimum, if any, loss of data.
- Be able to move around the interface very easily.
- Have a basic knowledge of spreadsheets and databases, such as Microsoft Excel.
- Be able to input data accurately and efficiently.
- This is so that the system works to its full potential and no mistakes are made in bookings or ordering products.
Training programmes
It would be useful for the manager to look into the possibility of sending some of his staff on training days, or on short courses. This would enable the eventual users to become competent in whichever system is eventually implemented.
A useful contact number to find out about training is:
Chesterfield College: 01246 500553
Or email:
