Scenarios

Navigating to find a certain form in Banner Finance

Joe wants to know if a check has been issued to a vendor. He's not sure which form code he needs to use to find this information in Banner Finance, nor can he remember the form name off the top of his head. He goes to his office shelf, pulls off his "Banner Bible" (the Banner Finance Training Manual notebook) and begins looking through his notes. He knows he'll recognize the form code as soon as he sees it and that once he accesses it, he'll be on his way. Within a minute he finds his list of handwritten form codes that correspond to actions he's done before. He types this 7-letter code into the Direct Access field and can now return to his initial task.

Claims Analysis:

On-line navigation of forms:

+ allows users to search on-line for the form
- working through a hierarchy of menus is undesirable because it seems slow and tedious
- working through a hierarchy requires reading comprehension and thought
- users can find a list of frequently used forms in their personalized notes
- users can locate a specific form faster using their notes
- handwritten notes allow for personal explanations

Direct Access navigation of forms:

+ allows quick retrieval of a form
- most people don't always know the 7-digit form code
- users focus on the cryptic code rather than the name, the task has to be associated with the code

Use of forms to locate data:

+ users establish a limited set of forms they use and recognize
+ users recognize that specific forms will provide them the information that they need
+ after locating the form, users can easily find the data they need
- novice users may have difficulty in finding the forms that will provide the right information