Chapter 1: Information Systems in Your Life: Types of Systems and Careers

information systems

The combination of people, information technology, and business processes to accomplish a business objective.

information systems triangle

Every information systems consists of people, business processes, and information technology.

user centered design

Designing websites and applications to meet the needs of the user. While this may seem to be common sense, in practice it does not often happen—especially in internal corporate settings. How user centered are the systems at your college or university?

usability

Describes how easy the system is to use and navigate—especially for novice users.

graphic design

Describes the visual appeal and organization of the user interface.

analytical design

Describes how best to represent information—especially quantitative information—so that it communicates clearly and truthfully.

systems development life cycle (SDLC)

A method for designing information systems. The life cycle proceeds through the following stages: an analysis of the current state, development of requirements, design of a solution, development from the design and finally to implementation or roll out of the solution.

screen mockups

Non-functioning pages of a website or app that are generated in a drawing program such as Photoshop, Omnigraffle, or even PowerPoint.

systems architecture diagram

A diagram that shows the organization of a website or app. A systems architecture diagram is sometimes also called a site map.

wireframe

A sketch of what the website or app page will look like. A wireframe has less detail filled in than a mockup.

information systems architecture

The high level view of corporate systems—usually divided into enterprise systems, knowledge management/collaboration systems and business intelligence systems.

enterprise systems

Systems that manage day to day transactions of the business.

supply chain management

Controlling the flow of raw materials and finished products into and out of the business.

customer relationship management

Controlling communications with the customer to advance marketing goals

enterprise resource planning

The largest systems of all. ERP systems tie together all aspects of the business from accounting to the shop floor.

data warehouse

A repository of corporate data collected from many corporate databases.

business intelligence

The process of analyzing data to spot trends and opportunities.

data mining

A form of BI that automatically looks for trends or patterns in the data.

knowledge management systems

Capture and index knowledge from past projects usually in text form.

collaboration systems

Allow multiple users to work on projects together—even when geographically separated.

Chapter 2: Information Systems to Enhance Business: Business Process Redesign

business process

A set of goal directed activities.

As-Is process

The way the process functions right now before any intervention or redesign.

To-Be process

The way the process will function after the redesign.

business process diagram

Business processes may be represented by process diagrams containing actors in swim lanes and actions connected by arrows. Decision points in a business process are represented by diamonds.

swim lane

A vertical portion of a business process diagram.

actor

A person or computer who takes actions or makes decisions in a business process.

Chapter 3: Professionalism in Deliverables: Principles of Graphic Design

contrast

The use of type, color, weight, and so forth to draw attention to specific elements on the page.

visual weight

The amount of ink dedicated to an element on the page. The more ink, the more contrast that is created.

affinity

The opposite of contrast. Layouts demonstrating affinity show subtle variations in color or brightness.

conflicting layout

A layout in which type is very similar but different. The effect is disturbing to the eye, as though an error has taken place.

repetition

The practice of repeating visual elements such as fonts, colors, images, and so forth to unify a composition.

color palette

A group of colors used in a composition that harmonize in some way. When colors are used from the palette, they serve to unify the composition. Colors in the palette are normally referenced by their red, green, blue (RGB) numeric values.

alignment

Arranging items on a page so that they touch common imaginary vertical or horizontal lines to convey organization, polish, and strength.

proximity

Arranging items on a page so that similar items are grouped together to establish their relationship.

hotspot

Your cell phone becomes a hotspot through a process called tethering. Tethering allows your computer to communicate to the internet by sending and receiving data over your cell phone’s data connection. Tethering is accomplished by creating a Bluetooth connection between your cell phone and your laptop. The laptop then sends/receives over both the Bluetooth connection and your cell phone’s data connection. Response time is faster if your cell phone has a 3G connection to the cell phone tower.

Chapter 4: User Centered Design: Design an iPhone App

app

An application or app is a computer program that runs on the iPhone. The term is also used for programs running on other platforms such as the iPad, Android phone, or indeed any computer. The iTunes store categorizes apps as follows: Books • Business • Education • Entertainment • Finance • Games • Healthcare & Fitness • Lifestyle • Medical • Music • Navigation • News • Photography • Productivity • Reference • Social Networking • Sports • Travel • Utilities • Weather

demographics

A way to categorize groups of people using age, income level, gender, education level, home ownership, and so forth.

market segment

A group of potential customers for a product or service. Segments are typically identified by demographics.

promotional campaign

The marketing communication that is aimed at the target market. This includes ads, news releases, and so forth. Marketers must try to accurately predict what type of campaign will appeal to the target market while staying consistent with the brand.

target market

The segment that is chosen or targeted by the company. Promotional campaigns are aimed at the target market.

majority fallacy

The targeting of only the largest segment or group of segments, when a smaller loyal segment could be more profitable.

niche market

A narrow and highly defined target market. For example, a niche market might be 21 year old females who drive red economy cars and drink diet Coke.

brand power

Narrowly defining a product or service so that it provokes a single positive image in the mind of the consumer—such as “cool” for Apple Computer.

user centered design

Changing the design to fit the user rather than asking the user to accommodate the design.

usability

How easy a product is to use.

user experience (UX)

“A person’s perceptions and responses that result from the use or anticipated use of a product, system or service” ISO 9241-210

persona

A fictional person from the target market created by the designer to help influence design choices.

differentiate

A marketing term that refers to the ability of a brand to stand out from the crowd.

singularity

The idea that a brand’s power depends on its uniqueness.

Chapter 5: Planning Usable Websites: Design a Website to Market the App

Chapter 6: Build, Buy, or Reuse Solutions: Develop a Website to Market the App

build vs. buy

The classic decision on whether to program or purchase an information systems solution. It is usually better to buy.

website authoring tools

Programs that greatly simplify the process of building a website. Google Sites is the authoring tool that we will use.

design view

The what you see is what you get (WYSIWYG) view of website authoring. The design tool functions like a word processor.

code view

The HTML code that is built behind the design view. Most authoring tools provide a code view, though you rarely need to use it at our level. You may have seen some code view on YouTube when they show the code to embed a video in your webpage.

client side development

Running development software such as Dreamweaver on your workstation. The major advantage is that it runs very fast when running locally.

cloud development

Accessing development software that lives in the cloud. The major advantage is that the development process tends to be greatly simplified.

site template

A pre-built site with placeholder text, images, and a pre-selected theme. Site templates are the closest thing to an instant website.

theme

Similar to a template but without the placeholder text and images. A theme specifies formatting—layout, colors, and fonts.

layers

Webpage elements that lie on top of one another to create a layered look on the page.

page template

An unfortunate reuse of the word template—page template refers to whether or not a given page will have collaboration elements on it—e.g., allowing users to post comments on the page. By contrast, the site template described earlier refers to the layout and pages of the entire site.

content area

The portion of the page where you write your content. You can specify layouts for each content area—e.g., a three column layout.

gadgets

Mini services that exist in the cloud and can be snapped into your webpage. For example, you can include a weather gadget.

database

A collection of one or more related tables of data stored in rows and columns.

form

A user-friendly way to get information into a database.

database integration

The ability to capture and store information gathered from a form into a database. Database integration also refers to the ability to extract and display information from a database on a website.

Chapter 7: Knowledge with Information Systems: Forecast Revenues and Expenses for the App

business analyst

This is a job title typical for an IS graduate. Business analysts work both with business units such as Human Resources and the programmers. They discover the needs of the business unit and then translate those needs into documentation for the programmers. Business analysts also test the completed system and supervise its roll out.

outsourcing

Hiring another firm to do a job that traditionally might have been done in-house.

onshoring

Outsourcing to a firm that resides in your own country.

offshoring

Outsourcing to a firm that resides in a foreign country.

competitive advantage

An attribute that allows a firm to best the competition in some way.

Doing Business As (DBA) license

The cheapest way to start a business. It is just you doing business under another name. However, you are personally liable for business debts.

Limited Liability Corporation (LLC)

Usually the recommended way to start a small business. If the business goes under, you are not personally liable for the businesses debts.

Apple developer

A developer registered with Apple. Only Apple developers can list apps on the iTunes store.

fixed cost

A cost that the business must pay whether or not they sell anything. Examples include rent, legal fees, development costs and so forth.

variable cost

A cost that business incurs on each sale. For apps, the variable cost is the iTunes store commission.

contribution margin

What you make on every sale after subtracting variable costs.

information

Data that has been processed in a meaningful way.

landscape orientation

Printing horizontally rather than vertically on a piece of paper. The normal way to print is portrait or vertical orientation.

assumptions area

A part of the spreadsheet, usually at the top, where the key variables are given their values.

formula

A mathematical operation that normally references the values contained in other cells in the spreadsheet. If the cells are referenced by name, then their values will not change when copied. If the cells are referenced by location (e.g. B6), then the values will change when copied as Excel tries to guess a pattern.

name box

The box located just above cell A1 . It is used to give names to spreadsheet cells. The names are variables, so they may not contain spaces. Also, remember to hit Enter after typing the name or it will not stick.

camelback notation

Variable names created by capitalizing the first letter of each word and eliminating the spaces between words.

sensitivity analysis

An analysis of how the outputs will change as the inputs from the assumptions area vary. You are literally trying to discover how sensitive the outputs are to changes in the inputs. The analysis helps determine how the inputs must be varied to achieve a desired result.

data table

A tool used to perform a sensitivity analysis. A data table allows you to vary two of the inputs and record changes to one of the outputs. Amazingly the data table performs all of the computations for each combination of inputs.

Chapter 8: Decision Support: Determine Feasibility of a Business Loan for the App

startup costs

These are fixed costs associated with starting a business. Often refers to one time costs.

payment (PMT) function

A built in Excel function that calculates loan payments. Inputs to the function include the loan amount (pv), the interest rate (rate), and the number of loan payments (nper).

function

A function is similar to a stored formula. However, functions usually hide details of the formula from the user. For example, we can use the PMT function to calculate loan payments without ever knowing the mathematical formula behind the function.

sum function

Also represented by Σ, the sum function adds up a column or row of numbers.

finance charge

The total interest paid over the life of the loan. The finance charge is calculated by adding up all of the loan payments and then subtracting from this total the amount originally borrowed.

sensitivity analysis

An analysis of how the calculation results vary with changes in the initial assumptions.

Chapter 9: Industry Analysis: Smartphone Apps

industry analysis

An analysis of the attractiveness of the industry in which the company operates.

company analysis

The analysis of the competitive position of a company within an industry.

S.W.O.T. analysis

An analysis of a company’s strengths and weaknesses and of the industry’s opportunities and threats.

Porter’s five forces

An analysis of five key forces which profiles the attractiveness of an industry. These include the bargaining power of suppliers and buyers, barriers to entry, threat of substitutes, and the competitive rivalry of firms already in the industry.

bar graph

Compares discrete (distinct) categories on a common measure.

line graph

Compares continuous categories such as time on a common measure.

pie chart

Compares discrete categories on a common measure.

scatterplot

Suggests causality by plotting independent and dependent variables on the same graph.

Chapter 10: Business Intelligence: Analysis of App Sales Data

microfinance

Making very small loans (typically under $500) to entrepreneurs in developing countries. Most loans are repaid in six months to a year.

business intelligence

The delivery of accurate, useful information to the appropriate decision makers within the necessary time frame to support effective decision making.

static reports

A form of BI reporting with which we are most familiar—summary reports distributed at regular intervals.

dynamic reports

Look like standard reports but with a major difference. They are interactive and allow the user to drill down to discover the source for the summary numbers.

dashboard

A high level management overview of the data—sometimes depicted using dials and needles similar to an automobile dashboard. In a car you might not need to know your exact RPMs but you do need to know if you are red lining. Similarly, upper management might not need to know exact sales figures but they do need to know if sales are out of the normal range.

drill down

The process of uncovering the numbers that contribute to creating a summary number. Drill down is like being shocked at your ATM balance and then calling the to get a list of the withdrawals and payments made against your account.

data mining

The process of fishing for patterns in the data using computing power because you really do not know what to look for.

relational database

A database that consists of related tables and nothing but tables. The relationships among tables are established by repeating key fields. For example, the customer id field would be repeated in the account table for a bank.

primary key

One or more fields that together uniquely identify each record in a table.

parent and child tables

To avoid duplicate data, store information common to each child in the parent table. Parent tables point to child tables in a diagram. However, the real link between them is made using a foreign key.

foreign key

Repeat the primary key from the parent table in each corresponding record of the child table as a foreign key to link tables together.

duplicate data

Storing some fact about the world more than once. It is the number one sin in database design because duplicate data might become inconsistent.

one to many relationship

The type of relationship formed between parent and child tables. One parent record has zero or more child records.

form

A way to get information into a database. Each field in the form corresponds to a field in the database table.

report

A way to get information out of a database. Often a report will gather information together from multiple tables and present it as a single table.

SQL

Structured Query Language (SQL) is the language used by most relational database management systems. It requires very little code to accomplish powerful operations.

pivot table

A visual query tool in Excel that allows you to easily group and summarize data.

data warehouse

A giant database that contains periodic dumps from many databases throughout the company. BI systems query the data warehouse to spot patterns and trends.

extract, transform, load (ETL)

The process of copying data from many databases throughout the enterprise into the data warehouse.

latency

The amount of time between the occurrence of a transaction and the loading of that transaction’s information into the business intelligence system.

Chapter 11: Writing the Business Case: Design a Report for the App

schematic report

A business presentation combining concise text and graphics. Schematic reports should be brief, well organized, and easy to navigate. Though usually designed in PowerPoint, schematic reports are intended primarily to be read rather than projected. The term was coined by Robert Heckman of Syracuse University.

Pitchbook

A PowerPoint template well suited for creating schematic reports because of its small font size and versatile layouts.

PowerPoint presentation

A presentation primarily designed to be projected which combines brief text and graphics. Presentations use few words and large fonts for audience readability.

theme

Defines a set of background elements, colors, and fonts as well as a set of slide layouts.

layout

The organization of items on a page. For example, a 2up layout consists of two blocks of images and/or text.

master

Model slides that define the theme elements. The slide master defines the background elements, colors, and fonts. The layout masters provide a menu of possible layouts to apply to a slide.

template

A model report in which the theme is predefined. In some templates even some of the slides are already created. For example, the Pitchbook template includes a title slide, a table of contents slide, and a section heading slide.

Chapter 12: Presenting the Business Case: Design a Presentation for the App

Chapter 13: Establishing Credentials: Networking and Placement

Chapter 14: Microsoft PowerPoint Techniques

Chapter 15: Cloud Computing Techniques

Chapter 16: Microsoft Excel Techniques

Chapter 17: Microsoft Access Techniques

Chapter 18: Microsoft Word Techniques

: Appendix A: Fonts