Personal
Name, Address, Town, Postcode, Pay Method, Date of Birth
Vehicle
Make, Registration, Engine Size, KM start, KM end, Hire Date
The Invoice will be produced automatically from the model. No one will have to touch the invoice all they will have to do is press the print button. The way I will do this by just using the important information from the model and placing it one the invoice. So whenever it changes on the final model it will also change on the invoice. The way to do this on Microsoft Excel is to start of the formula by typing in an = sign. Then you type in the name of the model you want the information to appear from with an explanation mark at the end of it. Then all you need to do is to type in the cell reference from your final model. In the end the formula should look something like this: =FINAL! X2
Software selection
The software options which were available to me to create this model are as follows:-
Microsoft Access (Database)
Microsoft Excel (Spreadsheet)
Microsoft Word (Word Pad)
Publisher (Design Program)
These are the options which are available to me to build my system. The two which I think are no way suitable for what I am doing are Publisher and Microsoft Word. This is because you are not able to work out formulas on both Word and Publisher. So I have decided that I am not going to use either of these programs.
The two suitable programs for the task I am doing would have to be a Database or a Spreadsheet. These would be suitable for the task because they are both able to work out formulas and both have the tools which are needed for the task in hand. The software must be able to work out formulas it must be able to have functions like, What ifs, time, Date and so on. A What if is a command which will be able to use two options, e.g. if one value is less then this then the answer is this if it is this value it is that. We will need the date to work out the persons Age. There are loads of formulas involved like simple sums, multiplication, division and subtraction.
I have decided to use Microsoft Excel for the model, this is my decision because I think that Microsoft Excel is much easier to use than Database. I say this because I have had much more practise on Microsoft Excel than database. I also chose Microsoft Excel because it has more of the options which I need for the model. So I chose Microsoft Excel over the Database.
SYSTEM DESIGN
Initial ideas and layout
First of all I had to build up the structure of the model on paper. My very first design all of the information went downwards leading on to 2 portrait pages. Then I redesigned it to make it look better to the eye. On paper I just had all of the main information I needed, no pictures no nothing it did not look to good to the eye. All of the information was scrambled. It only included the test data the variable data, and worked out from that.
In my first draft I worked out the variables, they are as follows:
Insurance Cost
Engine Size Cost
Per KM charge
VAT
In draft one I did not use many formulas I just used a few which were sums and subtraction and some multiplication. Cells are able to be linked between sheets, I showed how to do this when I was talking about how the Invoice was going to be produced automatically.
SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION AND TESTING
Draft 1 and Draft 2 + formulas.
Draft 1
Draft 1 formula.
Draft 2
Draft 2 formula.
The formulas were built up by using more in draft two, I used more complex ones like What Ifs. I used formulas to work out his age and engine stuff and like that. I have the date inserted as a formula in this, there are formulas in more than one column.
Final model
There are different insurance costs for different aged people because it is a known fact that younger people are involved in more accidents. So if you are older than 25 you have to pay £10 and if younger you have to pay £20. I had to use these variables in a What if formula, to work out how much I would have to pay I would have to work out the age of the customer. That was easy DOB – Today’s Date. I had to use a what if for the engine size as well. There are about three dropdown lists in the final model too. This would make it easier for the customer to choose he would not be able to choose something we do not have.
Final model Formulas
As you are able to see when we go along the formulas become more and more complex, if you look at draft 1 then 2 then the final one you will be able to see this. Certain rules were changed as we went along like I used the what Ifs.
The Invoice
The Invoice formulas
Testing for customer use
Testing of the system is very important, it will show me if the system that I have made is working or not. If I did not check my system there could be a mistake init and we might be charging less that we are supposed to charge. If it was not working and I did not check it, it would not have much of a chance of someone buying it. So In conclusion the testing of the system is very important.
I decided to use 5 What if questions to check my system, the questions are designed to check each aspect of the model. These aspects are:-
Days Hired
Engine Size
KM Driven
Age
VAT Change
My What Ifs…
SYSTEM EVALUATION
System improvements
Yes my system did do what it was set to do, it estimated the car hire prices. It produced an invoice automatically, I think that my model was a success because it was user friendly it did what it was supposed to. But if I was given a chance to do it again I would be able to more stuff to make it better I will be able to put more functions.
Making my model was not as difficult as I thought it would be, I thought it would take up all of my time, that it would be very difficult with all of those formulas and stuff but I was able to make it all in class I did not have to take it home. So I think that it was not too hard to make my model. The software choice was good because I was able to do everything I needed to do on Microsoft Excel. So it was easy to do it on this program because it had all of the functions which were needed.
To improve my system I would try to make the estimate of the car hire more accurate somehow, I would also use a wider variety of cars in my system. I would try to build up my invoice more as well. My software choice was appropriate because it does what I needed to do on it. So in conclusion my system was a success.
Ikhlas Raja 10s5
Candidate No.9297