The focus is on Section 1.4, WHY DATABASE DESIGN IS IMPORTANT. Explain that modern database and applications development software is so easy to use that many people can quickly learn to implement a simple database and develop simple applications within a week or so, without giving design much thought. As data and reporting requirements become more complex, those same people will simply (and quickly!) produce the required add-ons. That's how data redundancies and all their attendant anomalies develop, thus reducing the "database" and its applications to a status worse than useless. Stress these points:
• Good applications can't overcome bad database designs.
• The existence of a DBMS does not guarantee good data management, nor does it ensure that the database will be able to generate correct and timely information.
• Ultimately, the end user and the designer decide what data will be stored in the database.
A database created without the benefit of a detailed blueprint is unlikely to be satisfactory. Pose this question: would you think it smart to build a house without the benefit of a blueprint? So why would you want to create a database without a blueprint? (Perhaps it would be OK to build a chicken coop without a blueprint, but would you want your house to be built the same way?)