Abstract: A method and structure are provided for automating the collection of information from a customer and providing a specification of a transaction system to fullfil the customer's needs and desires. An ordering step is used in order to obtain information via a convenient user interface to determine the customer's intended use of the machine and the performance desired. As a result of this ordering process, the system hardware configuration is determined automatically. During the implementation process, the system is used to assemble a package of software, to run the hardware thus configured and implement the chosen user functions. If desired, this information is stored for later use in the event the user wishes to modify the configuration of his system, or to order additional system configurations different than that of the initial system.