2-11 People and ICT Systems

1. Ict Systems: Design and Purpose
All system that are used must have designed to be used by the people that need it and for a particular purpose.

2. Things that need to be taken into account when designing a system would be

• The Experience of the user (are they competent with IT systems or not very computer literate)
• Physical characteristics (are they visually impared or can only see in ceratain colours)
• Task to be undetaken (is the system capable of meeting the demands of its users)

3. Users interact with computer systems in a variety of ways

1. The most common would be a GUI (Graphical User Interface) 
• This Kind of system users icons and pictures that are easily understandable, every level of user can use this interface as all the controll are common amongst most systems
• GUI's consist of Windows, Icons, Menus & Pointers
2.  The next would be Menu Driven Interface
• These types of interfaces can be good when the user only needs a limited choice of actions
• Mobile phone system generally used Menu Driven Interfaces but have now started to move towards using GUI's instead.
3. The third would be Command Line Interfaces
• These are commonly used by experienced users as they are much harder to understand adn use.
• When using this kind of interface the user must use text based commands which then result in an action by the computer, therefore the user must already know the commands for the system to work.

4. All user sometimes need help however trained they are, therfore for an IT system to be utilised fully all users must have regular training on new and old aspects of the system.

5. Benefits & limitations of user Interfaces

• GUI's tend to be more user friendly, as a result of the software being more intiative. This can be frustrating for experienced users, as they may have to go through three or four levels of menu to get what they require. These systems also take up a lot of disk space and memory.
• Command Line Interfaces are generally only used by exeriences users as they demand considerable knowledge. As they use little graphics they take up little resources and room.
• Menu Driven Interfaces These restrict the option a user can select, for example public access to a system, however getting information can be slow as your have to go through numerous levels of menus to get your desired action. These are often combined with GUI's which therfore take up a considerable amount of resources and disk space.

2-11 People and IT systems cont.

6. Working in ICT
There are many different jobs available to ICT professionals some of the main roles are:

• Software engineer
• Software developer
• Systems analyst
• Web-designer
• Network administrator

Each Job requires personal attributes  as well as job specific attributes, common ones are things such as:

• Leadership
• Team working
• Flexibility
• Creative
• Communication skills
• Problem Solving

Characteristics of an effective ICT team

1. Motivations, the team leader does not only ensure the task is completed but also ensures staff are motivated and working to meet deadlines set out by the managers.
2. The strengths and weaknesses of employees must be countered to minimise areas of risks
3. Good monitoring of the task to ensure it is complete on time
4. A well balanced team so all aspects of a system has had a good level of thought put into it
5. Communication is key to the success of the team.