System Design Methodology Essay Example for Free

System Design Methodology Essay Newbiz Telecommunication Services is a company that sells mobile phones, mobile accessories, prepaid cards and other items related to telecommunications and mobile computing industry. The company intends to develop a system to manage its inventory needs. This system will be used by the company’s staff and management to monitor the movement of its stocks. Among the many reasons why the system is required are: a. The system enables the company to reduce labor and paper costs since many of the daily functions will then be automated. b. It allows employees to concentrate on their jobs rather than spending time on searching records. c. Human errors can be reduced e.g. calculation error might lead to wrong billing to the customers. d. It allows the company to keep track of its stock levels as late replenishment of inventory can result in insufficient stocks to meet customer demands. e. The time it takes to process sales to customers can be made faster. Faster response time means that sale of items can be quickly closed. f. It presents a good image to the company’s clients leading to more confidence in the company. This allows it to gain a competitive advantage over its competitor. g. Inventory levels can be closely and easily watched with the new system as the management has better control over inventory levels. This is because inventory levels are updated every time a sale to customer is made and whenever new stocks arrive. Project Requirement Specification Aim: The aims of this assignment are to: * Develop skills in choosing an appropriate traditional methodology * Develop skills in applying structured techniques that are relevant to the chosen methodology * Develop skills in analysing and recording the requirements of a system * Develop skills in analysing and developing different views of a system * Develop skills in developing a prototype, with suitable interface, from conception through to implementation * Demonstrate a knowledge of the fundamental issues of HCI by applying interface design principles to a prototype Assessment The total assessment marks of this group case study is 100% (50% of overall module marks) Outline of Task: You have been given the task to analyse, design and develop a prototype for the given Case Study. Your class will be divided into groups. Each group will comprise of 2 or 3 team members. Part-A is a ‘Group Component’, to be completed in a collaborative manner (60%). Part-B is an ‘Individual Component’, to be completed by each member of the group respectively (40%). Suggested Presentation Format This project is a group effort and should be treated as though you are proposing a system for an organisation. The following is a suggested minimum report format. It is recommended that your report contain at least the following: PART-A – GROUP COMPONENT Cover Page Your cover page should contain the standard information such as UCTI Logo, Subject Title, System Name, etc Table of Contents The table of contents should have the topic title and reference page number attached to each topic. Introduction This should include your task, the scope of the proposed system, and the objectives for the proposed system. Schedule Planning Gantt Chart PERT CHART This should include your group’s schedule on this assignment and the dates and tasks and the responsible group member(s) has to be included in your schedule. All this information should be shown in a Gantt chart, PERT Chart and Workload Matrix (sample workload matrix attached). Problem Analysis Current Systems Brief analysis of the current system including description of the constraints and opportunities for the proposed system. Overview Proposed Systems An explanation of how the proposed system solves the existing problems and addresses opportunities. Process Model for Proposed Systems Logical process model 0 Context diagram 1 Level 0 DFD 2 Level 1 DFDs for the Level 0 processes 3 Level 2 DFDs for the Level 1 processes (if any) 4 Process Specification (e.g. Structured English, Decision Table and Decision Tree) Data Models Proposed Systems Logical Data Models: 5 Entity Relationship Diagram, showing named relationships, cardinality (mandatory/optional), and cardinality (one-to-many, one-to-one, etc) Data Dictionary for Proposed Systems Present at least THREE data Dictionary for any of the Attribute / Process / Entity within your project. Clearly show Data flows, Data Stores, Processes, Source and Sink, where applicable. Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) * Discuss the principals that you have considered / applied into creating the GUI of your system. Include the principals of Human Computer Interaction (HCI) where applicable. Prototyping * The assignment requires you to use a contemporary prototyping tool that permits the development of graphical user interfaces (GUIs) to develop a prototype. * Visual Basic is the recommended programming environment. Other tools such as Delphi, PowerBuilder, Visual Cafà ©, PHP and etc are allowed. * NOTE: You are not required to produce a fully functional program (such as inclusion of database and online components) which may be beyond the scope of this module. PART-B – INDIVIDUAL COMPONENT Selection of Methodology This part involves individual (member) contribution to this assignment. Each member is required to choose and explain a suitable (distinctive) methodology for the project. The whole discussion should not exceed 800 words. * Compare and select a suitable IS development methodology for this your case. State the reasons for your choice. * Explain the purpose, structure and scope of the methodology. Include any frameworks and/or diagrams as aid. * Explain in detail how your project will be developed according to the methodology. Include the tools and techniques that are recommended within the methodology and their use in your project. * The application of the methodology should be elaborated at your the final presentation. Project Presentation * Present your solution and suggestion including explanation of each section of your topics. * A demo of your actual prototype. * A detailed presentation of your individual component. - Assignment Deliverables and Conditions: * Your group needs to hand in the group case study on the due date mentioned on the cover sheet of the assignment, with all the necessary components as suggested above. Clearly sapparate and indicate the Group component and Individual component in your documentation. * Final Documentation has to be word processed, printed in A4 size paper (double sided preffered) and professionally bound. The maximum of 5000 words is recommended. * Please consider the environment and dont print unnecessarily. Include all your work (copy) into an optical disk, to be attached to the documentation. This could be used to scan for plagiarism. Any additional / redundant materials could also be included into the optical disk.. * Include the list of references / bibliography and appendices where necessary. * Include a ‘Workload Matrix’, indicating the contribution of each individual for each required component (shown in percentage) and should be signed off by each team member, attached to the APPENDIX part of the final document. * The presentation will be conducted according to the date time allocated to each group. Late submissions will not be assessed unless extenuating circumstances are upheld.