Using ICT to help a man to sell his business

My user is my uncle who thinks he is too old to run his business. Mr. Devakumar (the owner/user) needs money urgently and his only son lives in a foreign country therefore he has decided to sell it to someone as soon as possible. The petrol station is located in South Harrow, bessborough road near ‘Alexander Park’ and ‘Netto’s’. The purpose of this document is to sell his petrol station he owns. He has handed over the job of selling his business to me. This will help him to sell his business. To do this job I need to get some information such as how much profit he makes a year, or what price he wants to sell it for etc.
Interview
What is your business?

I own a petrol station.
How much do you earn a year?
I earn between 20 and 30 thousand pounds a year
Do you have any problems?
I don’t think I can run this business, I am too old now.
What type of a leaflet would you like?
I would prefer an A4 with one fold.
What colours would you like?
Red, blue, silver, black and any other colours. Just make it look good
Would you like a border?
Yes in silver please.
Possible Solutions
I can draw the pictures and colour it in myself. I will use pencil and colour pencil to do the pictures. I could also cut out pictures from the newspaper or magazines. I will handwrite the text myself. I could use a photocopy machine to get more copies of leaflet.
ICT methods
Microsoft word
There are many features including being able to change different font styles, sizes, word art, spell check, colour, background. It is ideal to write letters.
Layout of both sides cannot be seen, folds are not visible and you cannot move your text/pictures easily.
Microsoft publisher
Allows you to create leaflets, pictures can be moved around easily but settings need to be done. Background colours can be changed easily.
Training is required and is time consuming.
Microsoft PowerPoint
Allows you to make slideshows and presentation. Text boxes can be put in easily.
Not much can be written on a page if done so than it will be all crowded and hard to be read. It’s not suitable to make leaflets.
Advantages of using ICT
The advantages of using ICT to produce my leaflet are that you can cut and paste any images but also text. You can resize the images and manipulate them. You can change the font, colour, shape and size any time you like. If you make a mistake when you are typing you don’t need to cut it out you could just delete it and continue writing. There is also a grammar and spelling mistake checker which will underline the word/phrase that is wrong. If you save it you could change its design any time. Using ICT you can keep your document save by saving it in your required files or sending to an e-mail or computer. You could also save it on a memory stick.
Conclusion
I have chosen Microsoft publisher to make my leaflet because it is the easiest way to make leaflets. I also know how to use it properly. It gives many choices to make different types of leaflets graphics can be inserted easily, textboxes can be linked and the colours can be used in different ways.
Objectives
* I must include pictures showing different parts of the petrol station including inside and outside.
* Contact information should be able to be found at the back of the leaflet.
* Basic and important information should be at the back.(e.g. contact information)
* Text should be written in ‘Ariel’.
* Text should be big enough to be seen easily e.g. 12pt or higher.
* A4 paper with one fold.
* Colours used should be red, blue, black and silver.
* Borders should fade.
*
PART 2: ANALYSE
Hardware
Input devices needed
Keyboard-type information into word, publisher, power point or excel.
Mouse- allows to control things on the screen. Objects can be moved, resized or changed.
Digital cameras- allows me take pictures (e.g. of user.)
Output devices needed
Printer-can print out leaflets.
Monitor- can see what I am creating.
Storage devices needed
USB-documents can be saved and carried around.
Hard disc- is the main storage device in a computer.
Software
Microsoft Publisher- good layout and text can be linked together on other boxes.
Microsoft word- good facilities to write documents (letters, reports etc)
Internet- download information from internet.
I will use Microsoft publisher to create my leaflet. However I will also use Adobe Photoshop to edit the graphics.
Data collection & input
Data Required
Source
Collection method
Input method
Error checking
Picture of user
Digital camera
Manually take pictures then download on to computer
Import into publisher
Check with the user
Picture of shop
Digital camera
Download on to computer
Import into publisher
Check with the user
company logo
Internet
Download from the internet
Import into publisher
Check with the user
Information about the company
User
Type in word
Import into publisher
Check with the user & spell check in word.
Map of place.
Internet
Download on to computer
Import into publisher
Check with the user & check practically
Data processing
I will have 4 pages of text. I will only use one sheet of A4 sized sheet with one fold, so that there are 4 pages. I might use linked text boxes. I will format my text by justifying it; it should make my text look neater. I will use Comic Sans MC for my font to write the text and graphical font like word art for eye catching titles.
I will edit my images using Photoshop, paint and Microsoft publisher. I might crop or resize my graphics to fit them in a suitable place.
Data flow
Outputs
Card paper is strong but much more expensive. You can get it in different sizes as well.
Plain A4 is cheaper compared to colour and card. It is the ideal size to make leaflets and can be folded in to preferred forms.
A4 coloured paper more expensive than A4 but no ink has to be wasted on it for the background colour. But you cannot print certain colours on certain colours on certain coloured paper as it cannot be seen.
Laser printer- This printer is much quieter, faster and its cost per page is much cheaper, the printouts have also better quality. They are much more expensive, bigger and the toners cost more compared to ink jet cartridges.
Ink-Jet Printer- This printer is cheap to buy, the ink cartridges are cheaper and the printer is more space saving than the laser printer. Its printouts have a higher quality and are faster than dot-matrix printer but not as good as laser printers.
Dot- matrix printers- Cheapest from all printers. But also the worst quality and it’s very loud.
I have decided to use the colour printer which is the laser printer as it makes the fastest and high quality printouts and it is the only one available in school. I have also decide to use the plain A4 paper as any colours can be printed on it, it cheap and any ideal size can found easily.
Backup & Security
The user should have a printout version of it and an electronic version on their computer. The user should have a back up copy so in case they loose the original version they will still have another copy of it. Nowadays they best way to save it on, is on a memory stick as it is portable but CD will do. Every time they open they file on the computer they should make a backup. To make it extra safe they should keep updating it at least once every fortnight. Another way of keeping it secure is to make a password with different characters (minimum 6 characters e.g. numbers, alphabetical letters, other characters such as /). The password could be anything personal or even something that doesn’t make sense.
PART 3: DESIGN
User feedback on initial designs
I am quite pleased the way the leaflet is presented but I would still like a few changes. I like the way colour and the borders are used. But could you try and add more detailed graphics, make sure there is a picture of me. Write why I want to sell it and important information such as contact information, words/phrases such as ‘for sale’. And make sure it always looks professional. I had also like images linking every title. Remember on the first page don’t put any text going across.
Subtasks
* Make a draft version of leaflet using same paper but hand drawn.
* Show user to check for any improvements.
* Make another final design of it.
* Collect map and create logo.
* Produce leaflet on Microsoft publisher type details in word and insert
* Show user check for any more improvements.
* Make final leaflets.
* Make more copies of it.
Test Plans
Test
Expected results
Actual results
Changes needed
Check if location map is present
Map is positioned on back page
Check if logo is correct
Logo matches company logo
Check if map is correct
Map shows right location of shop.
Check correct font is used.(Arial)
Correct font used for suitable places
Check if colours required by the user are used. (Black)
Colour matches (black)
Check if graphics are correct ( correct images, border fade)
Graphics match as user preferred (logo, images)
Check if contact information is found on the back of the leaflet.
Contact information (Phone No., address) is found easily on the back of the leaflet.
There shouldn’t be a lot of writing squeezed together in one place.
Font is big and clear. Writing is easy to be read.
A4 paper with one fold should be used.
A4 paper with one fold is used.
PART 4: IMPLEMENT
Evidence of making your leaflet
* I first collected images from file and uploaded them into the software ‘Picture it’.
* I used the crop tool to cut out each image.
* I made text and faded it.
* I put the images together.
* I changed the orders of some images by right clicking the images and going to orders and choosing my preferred order,
PART 5: EVALUATE
Review objectives
* I must include pictures showing different parts of the petrol station including inside and outside. – Done. I used the camera to take photographs and inserted into publisher.
* There shouldn’t be a lot of writing squeezed together in one place. – Done. I tried to put as much information as possible in a small paragraph.
* Contact information should be able to be found at the back of the leaflet. – Changes were made as telephone number was put on first page as user preferred it that that way.
* Enough information to convince the dealer to buy it. – Happy with the amount of information but not the way the information was used as it is not good enough to convince the buyer.
* Basic and important information should be at the back. – Objective has been changed as the address and directions were put at the back and the basic brief details were put on the front page. User was happy with the changes.
* Text should be written in ‘Ariel’. – Done by changing font to Ariel and typing using that font.
* Text should be big enough to be seen easily. – Done, I used text font size 16pt.
* A4 paper with one fold. – Done, A4 paper was used with one fold.
User comments
Overall I am pleased the way you have presented this leaflet. I still have some concerns about little things; you could have put a heading for each page of information, you only had few views from outside showing the petrol station. You could have taken images from different angles. Add more facts and statistics. You should have headings linking every page of information. But other than that I am very happy and glad that I handed over this job to you. I also like how you used the colours and different graphics. They way you presented the images was also good, tilting it and so on.
Improvements
* Have headings linking every page of information.
* Add more pictures showing different views of the petrol station.
* Add more facts and statistics in text.