Travel Agent Database - Effects of New System The new system will affect the travel agency, employees and even customers.

Effects of New System

The new system will affect the travel agency, employees and even customers.

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Training Staff

There are many ways the staff could be trained. They are listed and explained below.

1. Employ a good qualified teacher who could teach the employees of the travel agency for a certain numbers hours each day.

This method would be very effective because there will be good teacher giving good education. This also removes a problem from the employer which is to find a suitable way to teach the employees.

However, the disadvantage is that the teacher’s wages shall be sky high and also computers will have to be bought for each employee.

2. Install a beginners program on the company’s system so that employees could teach themselves in their own time.

This is a very beneficial way. This is because the program will provide step by step instructions for the employee and teach him how to manage a database. Another good thing is that the employees could learn in their free time or take the software home.

However, the disadvantage is that lots of money has to be spent buying and installing the software. The software will also have limited amount of knowledge.

3. Send the employees on an ICT training course.

Sending the employees for a course is a very good means of educating the employees. This is because the will be studying with all types of people, some who are familiar with computers. This encourages the employees from the experience of others. They would learn all sorts of things and not just how to manage a database.

However, the disadvantage to this is that the course may take a long time to complete.

4. Design a booklet which includes instructions and illustrations of how to use a computer.

This is a good method of teaching the employees because the booklet shall be designed by the company itself. This means that the booklet will only specifically include that information which is only needed by the company. This would stop the employees getting confused with all the other things coming into their minds.

5. Open a department within the travel agency for teaching the employees.

Opening a new department for teaching for the employees would be a fantastic idea. This is because the department would be able to cater for many clients at once. This means that this method be very fast and obviously better than the methods mentioned above. This method also saves a bit of money.

However, the disadvantages are that the wages of the teachers who have been employed will be very high and it will cost a lot to make a brand new department, equipped with ICT equipment.

 

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Documentation

There are two main types of documentations. They are the following:

1. User Documentation.
2. Technical Documentation.

User Documentation

User documentation is that type of documentation which is to be used by people who have never used a computer before or people who know a bit about computers. User documentations have screenshots which make the instructions clear to understand.

Technical Documentation

Technical documentation is that type of documentation which is to be used by people who are quite experienced with computers. A technical documentation tells you all the ‘technical’ information of the data or a program.

Below is an image of technical documentation.

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User Guide One

Below is my user guide.

Open Paint

1. Click on Start.
2. Click on All Programs.
3. Click on Accessories.
4. Click on Paint.

Create Logo

1. Click on the various tools given on the left hand side.
2. Click on any of the colours at the bottom left to choose a colour.

Saving

1. Click on File.
2. Click on save or save as.
3. Type in the name you want the file to be named as.
4. Select where you want the file to be saved.
5. Click on save.

Printing

1. Click on File.
2. Click on Print.
3. Alter the settings if needed.
4. Click on OK

Open Access

1. Click on Start.
2. Click on All Programs.
3. Click on Microsoft Office.
4. Click on Microsoft Access.

Create table

1. Open Microsoft Access.
2. Click on the ‘Table’ tab.
3. Click on ‘Create table in design view’.
4. Enter the fields that are going to be in the database.
5. Then select the data type and enter description.
6. To save, click on the disk at the top.
7. A box will come up saying to enter the table. After entering, click on OK.
8. You will then be asked to create a primary key if you wanted one.
9.  Click on the ‘Table’ tab. Then click on the table that you have created.
10. Thereafter enter the data in the table.

 

Using Formats (in Dates)

1. Open Microsoft Access.
2. Click on the ‘Table’ tab.
3. Then right click the table you have created. A menu will come up. So click on ‘Design View’.
4. Then click on something that has got to do with dates. For example, Date of birth.
5. At the bottom there is a separate box. In that there is a part called input mask.
6. In the input mask enter 00/00/0000;0;;  

Using input mask (post code etc.)

1. Open Microsoft Access.
2. Click on the ‘Table’ tab.
3. Then right click the table you have created. A menu will come up. So click on ‘Design View’.
4. Then click on postcode.
5. At the bottom, there is a separate box. In that there is a part called input mask.
6. In the input mask enter LL0\ 0LL.

Using Validation rules and text (gender)

1. Open Microsoft Access.
2. Click on the ‘Table’ tab.
3. Then right click the table you have created. A menu will come up. So click on ‘Design View’.
4. Then click on gender.
5. At the bottom, there is a separate box. In that there are two parts. The first is called validation rule. In that, enter “MALE” Or “FEMALE”. The second is validation text. In that, enter ERROR! PLEASE ENTER “MALE” OR “FEMALE” ONLY.

Creating Queries

1. Open Microsoft Access.
2. Click on the ‘Queries’ Tab.
3. Click on ‘Create query by using wizard’
4. Select the fields that you want, and then click Next.
5. Another page will appear, and then choose the option that you want, and click next.
6. Then enter what you want your query to be named as.
7. Click on Finish.

Using criteria’s ([Enter], <>, Yes)

1. Open Microsoft Access.
2. Click on the ‘Queries’ tab.
3. Then right click the query you have created. A menu will come up. So click on ‘Design View’.
4. Then where it says criteria, enter the appropriate criteria.

Creating Forms

1. Open Microsoft Access.
2. Click on the ‘Forms’ tab.
3. Click on ‘Create form by using wizard’.
4. Select the things that are needed.        
5. Click on Finish.

Creating switchboard

1. Click on the ‘Forms’ tab.
2. Then click on “create forms using design view”.
3. Then use the sheet and the tools provided at the top of the page.

Saving

1. Click on File.
2. Click on save or save as.
3. Fill in the details that need to be filled in and choose the options that you want.
4. Then click on OK.

Printing

1. Click on File
2. Click on Print.
3. Alter settings if needed.
4. Click on OK.

Open word

1. Click on Start.
2. Click on All Programs.
3. Click on Microsoft Office.
4. Click on Microsoft Word.

 

Create letterhead

1. Open Microsoft Word.
2. Click on View.
3. Click on Header and Footer.
4. Design the header and footer according to your needs.
5. Then click on close on the header and footer toolbar.

Create template letter

1. Open Microsoft Word.
2. Type the letter.
3. Leave the space for date, name and address of customer blank.

Adding details

1. Open Microsoft Access.
2. Click on the ‘Tables’ tab.
3. Click on information.
4. Enter data into appropriate field.

Saving

1. Click on File.
2. Click on save or save as.
3. Type in the name you want the file to be named as.
4. Select where you want the file to be saved.
5. Click on save.

Printing

1. Click on File
2. Click on Print.
3. Alter settings if needed.
4. Click on OK.

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Testing my User guide

A friend tested my user guide and the results are in the box below.

Feedback from User guide

I got this feedback from my friend.

Positive

Below listed are a few positive things said by my friend.

1. Clear cut and easy.
2. Nice, short and brief.
3. Easy to understand as it is in simple language.

Negative

Below listed are a few negative things pointed out by my friend.

1. No pictures mean boring.
2. Some of the steps were a bit hard to follow.
3. Some things needed a bit of explanation.

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Conclusion

My friend has mentioned that to make my user guide better I should put pictures in it.

To make my user guide better I will include pictures in it which show step by step instructions.

I think that the user guide without pictures is not very useful because user get bored. the whole thing looks more colourful with pictures.

Improving User guide

The reason why I have improved my user guide is because I want to make it easier for the users to use.

The difference between the two is that the first one has no pictures and the second on has got pictures in it.

User Guide Two

Below is my user guide with pictures.

Open Paint

Create Logo

Saving

Printing

Open Access

Create table

Using Formats (in Dates)

Using input mask (post code etc.)

Using Validation rules and text (gender)

Creating Queries

Using criteria’s ([Enter], <>, Yes)

        

Creating Forms

Creating switchboard

Saving

Printing

Open word

 

Create letterhead

Create template letter

Adding details

Saving

Printing

Training and new working practices needed = 2

Evaluation Sheets = 3

Documentation-User guide for produced system = 3

Test and evaluation = 2