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Java Forum / GUI / September 2004[OT] Ultimate Interface.
Hello, I have been asked by a charity in my home town to consult on getting a computer system in to manage their rota of slightly over 300 volunteers filling about 180 different duties (time slots) in a week. The biggest problem they have without a doubt is getting the 60-80 year old volunteers who form about 40% of the total number, to use any form of computer interface to book duties where now a days the fill their names out on a sheet of paper in the box representing the duty they want to do. Can you please give me suggestions for hardware mostly as to the VERY simplest possible way to get somebody to enter data into a computer system. In case you were wondering I am not being paid for this enterprise, so any help you give is directly beneficial to the charity only. Ideas I have come up with include having a big (say 19") touch screen with no windowing so that they would have to press only twice, once on their name and once on the duty they want to fill. Another is a scanner for reading the hand written notes, but these are all expensive and can probably be bettered. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance, Andoni. > Ideas I have come up with include having a big (say 19") touch screen with > no windowing so that they would have to press only twice, once on their name [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > Any thoughts? Go with the first, I'd say. The problem with the second is not so much the vulnerability of the hardware - handwriting recognition is something software cannot do reliably (Hell, *people* can't do it reliably!). Make sure the writing is big and easy to read. Find a simple to understand way to partition the names an duty slots. Probably a scrolling alphabetical list for the names, then the days of the next week or month and finally the open duties of that day, perhaps also the filled ones to allow people to cancel an appointment they have made. The biggest complication (if you want to introduce it) is going to be recurring duties and people doing them regularly. >> Ideas I have come up with include having a big (say 19") touch screen >> with [quoted text clipped - 23 lines] > The biggest complication (if you want to introduce it) is going to be > recurring duties and people doing them regularly. Completely agree with the touch screen idea. Software ideas that spring to mind are a 'simple' visual basic app for the front-end linked to an Access database for the recording, reporting and traceability.  SignatureApollo > I have been asked by a charity in my home town to consult on > getting a computer system in to manage their rota of slightly over [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > Another is a scanner for reading the hand written notes, but > these are all expensive and can probably be bettered. KISS, i.e. keep it simple. This means no mice. They probably are all familiar with at least typewriters, so a keyboard should not be scary. Any menus should be clear, and easily selected, possibly by cursor control keys or by entering single digits and/or characters. You don't specify the system, so I will assume MsDos/Windoze. Install 4dos, which is free these days <http://jpsoft.com>. This allows some very nice menuing and selection operations, and is upward compatible with the brain damaged Microsoft shells. You might well be able to do everything in batch files. You can configure the console for large print and 40 char. lines, thus allowing for poor eyesight. At the same time, don't assume any idiocy. I can confidently assert that people in their 70s can be very knowledgeable and capable. You neglected to set follow-ups, which you should do whenever crossposting to multiple newsgroups. I am answering in a.c.h. SignatureA: Because it fouls the order in which people normally read text. Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing? A: Top-posting. Q: What is the most annoying thing on usenet and in e-mail? > Hello, > [quoted text clipped - 23 lines] > Thanks in advance, > Andoni. Another thing to consider is people of that age group often have developing cateracts, so you should use light text on a dark background for easier reading. The all white background tends to cause glare. I'd go for white on a dark blue background. Don / ... > Another thing to consider is people of that age group often have > developing cateracts [sic], > so you should use light text on a dark background > for easier reading. The all white background tends to cause glare. I'd > go for white on a dark blue background. As a matter of fact, dark letters on a white background are easier to read, for all including those with diminished vision. The reason is the eye adjusts to the average scene brightness, not that of the highlights. Light letters on a dark background are more likely to cause eyestrain and blooming for those with cataracts. SignaturePaul Lutus http://www.arachnoid.com > Hello, > [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] > > Any thoughts? Yep. If you've got that many volunteers doing that much stuff it shouldn't be too hard to train a couple up for the 'plumb job' of data entry. Maybe you have a couple who's time isn't being utilised due to lack of mobility? -- ~misfit~ Free MagazinesGet these publications absolutely FREE for up to 12 months. There are no hidden fees and no obligation. Simply choose a title, complete the application form and submit it. Read more ...
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