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Chapter 2 – Background Research
2.1 Introduction
The following chapter discusses the background research carried out by the developer, which entails thorough investigation of all essential parts of this golf scoring information system. This includes an investigation of usability fundamentals which will be carried out so that the interface mediates between the user and the proposed computer system effectively. A decision will also be made involving which DBMS is most suitable for this application in terms of which will best fit this object oriented approach to architecture. A final discussion involving current technologies will take place, and within this, justifications of the selected programming language and software tool will be documented. This will be used to discover the most appropriate development tools to implement the proposed solution.
2.2 Usability
The level of communication between users and the system is of paramount importance; therefore the following investigates usability principles with the intention that the knowledge gathered from these can be used to establish criteria for the development of interfaces. In doing this the chosen usability features should be implemented so that they reflect the vision of this project. The following describes the relevant usability fundamentals to achieve this state. 2.2.1 Nielsen's Usability Principles
If a system is too complicated and complex in its general outlook and main functionalities users will not persevere with it. This relationship between the user and the system is built on the state of the usability fundamentals of the user interface. In order to enhance this relationship, Nielsen’s usability principles are an important guideline in achieving fundamentals like consistency and flexibility so that the user achieves an optimum level of performance from the system. Therefore these heuristics are deemed an essential part of interface design. Nielsen's usability principles can be found at Appendix J and they will all be taken into account when designing the interface for this golf scoring application.