“I’ve seen ’em all,” Carrie Moore tells you. “I was here when they got their first computer system. I guess I’ve sort of made a career of this,” she says cheerfully, pointing to the large stack of medical insurance claim forms she has been entering into the computer system. As a systems analyst, you are interviewing Carrie, a data entry operator for AbundaCare (a large medical insurance company), about changes being contemplated in the computer system. “I’m really fast compared with the others,” she states as she nods toward the six other operators in the room. “I know, because we have little contests all the time to see who’s the fastest, with the fewest errors. See that chart on the wall? That shows how much we enter and how quickly. The gold stars show who’s the best each week. Performance measures are my friends.”
“I don’t really mind if you change computers. Like I say, ‘I’ve seen ‘em all.’” She resumes typing on her keyboard as she continues the interview. “Whatever you do, though, don’t slow me down. One of the things I’m most proud of is that I can still beat the other operators. They’re good too, though,” Carrie adds. Based on this partial interview with Carrie Moore, what type of user interface will you design for her and the other operators? Assume that even though the new system is improved, it will still require massive amounts of data entry from a variety of medical insurance forms sent in by claimants. Compare and contrast interfaces such as natural language, question and answer, menus, input/output forms, and Web-based form-fill documents in two paragraphs. Then choose and defend one alternative. What qualities possessed by Carrie and the other operators—and the data they will be entering—shaped your choice? Make a list of them. Is there more than one feasible choice? Why or why not? Respond in a paragraph.