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On 7/16/05, Tony Markos <ajmarkos -at- yahoo -dot- com> wrote:
>
> Systems wise, what do end-users want to know?
> Do end-users want to have a "database description"?
> Thats too soft: Data wise, end-users want to know what
> the essential data entities (objects) are and, MOST
> IMPORTANTLY, how they all interrelate. And they may
> also want to know about the attributes of these
> entities.
To the contrary, few want to know "how they all interrelate." End
users typically want to know what *they* need to know to accomplish
*their* tasks, with relatively little else. Relatively few of them
have much real-world concern about "business goals"--since most are
much more task oriented. The prevailing attitude among end users I
have known has been "Show me how to get my job done" and by no means
"Show me how to do all jobs" or "Show me how this system empowers my
organization to reach its business goals."
Those who have the "50,000 foot view" are mostly those for whom that
is a part of their own responsibilities--whether it be DBAs, system
developers, business analysts, or managers. The largest number of
"knowledge workers" who deal with system data itself, though, don't
tend to have much concern for these issues.
For example, in an insurance company there are many people who work
with system data all day, every day. Most of them are reviewing
claims, doing data entry, preparing correspondence, and the like. For
them, esoteric views of the system are largely irrelevant. They are
more immediately concerned with how to do their job quickly and with a
minimum of problems, so they can maintain the performance levels they
are responsible for.
Sometimes, a laser focus must clearly illuminate the target.
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