Already swamped by continuous move-related headaches, Fulton knew his department couldn't be grounded by a software package only a computer programmer could love. Cargin and Law understood that ease of use would have to be a priority for the program to fly at Delta, and thus used ArcView GIS and Avenue to create a custom Windows-based application that could be learned quickly. One click on a mouse can pull up a color-coded map that illustrates how a given area is being used. Another provides a list of room feature attributes, square footage, and other information. The program shows different floors, configurations of rooms and cubicles, and which departments occupy space.
Easy queries can help in planning.
For instance, a query can instantly show if a wall is load-bearing or suitable for expansion. Even in this age of electronic storage, hard copies are still sometimes needed. All the floor plans in the system can be printed, updated, or modified in minutes and then printed again. When Delta began entering data into the system, it found that it had drawings that hadn't been updated to account for changes in the floor plan. But as the software was developed, Law updated the floor plans as it entered data into the system, so keeping the files up to date is now easier.