Software Design, Implementation, and Testing - Essay Example

Executive Summary: This report reflects the process of recovery of unsuccessful commercial web application software developed by the team of programmers. This web application project will work as an online catalogue of PC components as well a special feature for advanced users to configure and order online a custom made personal computer of their own preferences. Keeping view of not meeting required specifications we propose a systematic framework for its recovery and rehabilitation. This framework is comprised of several stages of rejuvenation. The important stages of recovery are to recognize the loopholes at its implementation, spotting the error codes and recovery process, re-testing the maturity. At first a field study is carried out to validate the first stage of the framework, the Recognition Stage. By this way the trouble indicating symptoms of said project was worked out. Such symptoms were logically examined and recovery measures applied for making it bug free and as per the requirement of the client. Another aspect was shortfalls in the project management model and the group dynamics. After review of relevant literature, the problem was reviewed and specific steps taken for a recovery process. Table of contents Executive summary ……………………………………………………………… Software Design, Implementation and Testing …………………………………. Commercial website ……………………………………………………………. A virtual demonstration …………………………………………………………. Project weaknesses ……………………………………………………………… Project management ……………………………………………………………. Group Process …………………………………………………………………. Forming ……………………………………………………………………… Norming ……………………………………………………………………… Storming ……………………………………………………………………… Performing …………………………………………………………………… Adjourning ………………………………………………………………….. Work breakdown structure …………………………………………………….. Recovery procedure …………………………………………………………… Software Design, Implementation and Testing Pursuant to the planning and discussion with client a project was created as its main functions were foreseen as follows :- Commercial Website A virtual demonstration Commercial Website This part of the project covers the commercial aspects of website. It is basically meant for a user who desires to buy parts of a PC as per his options. The web page has restricted for those users who has valid account in this site. For that he requires to create an account and get a user id and password. Through the user id and password he would enter into the commercial page of website where he would choose desired items from the displayed list of computer peripherals for purchase. This involves two important parts namely Customer part and Administrator part. Customer part deals with creating an account, searching for computer peripherals, browsing categories, PC configurator, Order placing, viewing the items ordered, modifying the shopping basket, setting quantity of items, buying the selected items. On account of designing client based webpage we used PHP as front end tool. Next part is administrator related which has database server that keeps all the products and its specifications stored in it. As the whole project designed to be created with open sources technology we used MySQL 5.0 version. In the back end process we created a database consisting of all the details of products and once all data related to the products entered into this server only thing we had to do next was to update the products as per the arrival of new products and removing old ones. If a visitor desires to purchase a product from this website, he needs to register and enter his / her information in a prescribed form. If he/she an already user, there is an option to skip that section and if not, simply follow the steps like entering into page meant for registration by pressing Register button on top right hand corner in the home page, give consent to the contract, filling the form correctly and completely, then creating username, password and entering email. After all these process of entries the user would get a confirmation email from the administrator showing all the information of user and the acceptance regarding his membership. In addition to this a simple search engine was also designed in every pages so as to enable the users/visitors to find their fancy product. On typing the key word of the desired product information inside the search box it will let the user to visit the category page showing the all information regarding various products. Now it is design part of database which is the important aspect of Website Development. Here the summary of what tables that need for this online shopping website and short description of each table. Table Name   Description tbl_category   Storing all product categories tbl_product   The products ( what else ) tbl_cart   When the shopper decided to put an item into the shopping cart well add the item here tbl_order   This is where we save all orders tbl_order_item   The items ordered tbl_user   Store all shop admin user account tbl_shop_config   Contain the shop configuration like name, address, phone number, email, etc  The ER ( Entity Relationship ) diagram is shown below. (Shopping Cart Database Design). Here’s the details of the above tables tbl_category The product categories were stored into this table. From the ER diagram it can be seen that our current database design enables a category wise products to be stored in a separate table due to which fast access of a product by its category became very easy. tbl_product In this table products were stored as the products name, category id, description, image and thumbnail. By this way a product can only have one image.   tbl_cart The table will store all items currently what the customer put. Here we used the ct_session_id to save the id of a shopping session.  tbl_order Finally as the user/customer place the order, new order is added in this table. The payment and shipping information that the customer provided during checkout are also saved in this table including the delivery cost. tbl_order_item The ordered items are placed here. The items are simply copied from the cart table when the customer places the order. tbl_shop_config This table stores the shop information. It contains the shop name, address, phone number, contact email address, shipping cost, the currency used in the shop and a flag in case the administrator wants to receive an email whenever a customer place an order. tbl_user In this table all the user or admin account were saved. In this table one user will be administrator having super user status and he can do everything to the shop. The other users may get necessary permission level for adding/updating product manage orders, etc. Indexing of the tables was used to speed up queries. As a matter of fact whatever application one make using indexes is a good idea because it would improve the database query performance. A virtual demonstration The virtual demonstration page is basically designed for the laymen who do not possess any knowledge of how to use the client based web page through which a product can be monitored and bought as per the wish of client. Virtual demonstration teaches the user how to become a successful buyer. Hence a demonstration virtual web part was created by using a slide presentation called bestbuy.ppt. By clicking this hyperlink a person would get an idea of browsing and buying process of required products. Instead of direct loading on immediate display of home page, inserting hyperlink as a demonstration purpose would be more useful that prevents unwanted delay of loading demonstration page every time while browsing home page. This way advanced users can directly access their choice pages skipping demonstration page. Only novice users requires this for learning purpose. Project weaknesses Though this project met all the requirements of the client it left behind some flaws which needed recovery process. The following were the areas of which modifications required. Web Home Page had to be more Attractive than what it was earlier looks All contents/objectives should mainly be displayed in the Home page itself Web pages should be user friendly so that by easiest effort user would get information quickly. Demonstration web page should be created in animated way than presentation slides. E-Business should be incorporated in the website. Project Management During the course of analysis of the project management some procedures of Agile method have been adopted. Using this procedure the prime factor of a project would be customer satisfaction with the available resources ie. Software. The principal measure of progress would be the working software. In this method late changes in requirements are allowed. Face-to-face interaction is the best way communication. Trusted and motivated individuals should be engaged to build the project. The project should be as simple as possible. It should adapt to changes of the circumstances and environments. Group process: Project management is an important discipline in the world of organizations. It does not matter if the organization has a commercial or social nature. The success of projects is dependent on many factors an one of them is the concept of group dynamics. Projects, whether large or small will involve a team of people and the dynamics that exist within that team will be one of the factors that contribute to the success or failure of a project. Group dynamics can be defined as ”the interaction and interpersonal relationships between members of a group and the ways in which groups form, function, and dissolve. Group dynamics is an important aspect of successful teamwork and is a factor influencing the outcome of any form of group activity…” (Business Definition for: Group Dynamics). The project that was done here also included a group of individuals from varied cultures and backgrounds. In fact the variety was very much existing in this particular group. Two people were from France and one each from Hungary, Greece and Bahrain. It has been given the ‘reflective statement’ that there had been some problems in the group functioning especially with regard to one of the team members. It is now apparent that no models for creating group dynamics were attempted here. No forma group leader was also selected here. It is now proposed to follow Bruce Tuckman’s five stages of group development so that such problems will not arise in future or at least to ensure that problems be kept to a minimum. The model consists of five stages namely forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning. “Bruce Tuckman has provided us with what has become the staple of group dynamics — his “Five Stages of Group Development.”” (Basic Group Theory: Tuckman’s Five Stages of Group Development). Forming: Forming refers to the actual formation of the group. It also helps each member of the group to create an initial impression as well as of others in the group. Each member looks for acceptance, expects support and clear cut instruction from the group leader and also hopes for conflict avoidance. During this stage members do not go into serious discussions for the fear of creating conflicting situations. Members start to identify what is expected of them. Such a forming session is very important here in this case due to the diverse nature of group members. Storming: Once the group starts the process of organization and assignment of tasks, conflicts begin to emerge. People might not express it on the outside, but it will be there in their minds. This conflict usually arises due to personal beliefs, their belief in themselves, their ability to perform the tasks assigned, fear of failure, power and leadership issues etc. The real nature of the team members will become apparent in this stage and hostilities will become apparent. Some members will try to dominate the group whereas others may remain silent. To resolve this and to move on to the next stage, a lot of mental and physical adjustments and sacrifices will have to be done by each member of the group. Another important trait that has to be taught to members is their ability to listen to another person without undue interruption. The success of this stage maybe is the most important factor in group cohesion and dynamics. Norming: Once the group has successfully come out of the storming session, the next stage is called norming. This stage is the one where cohesion begins to develop within the whole group. In the previous stage, certain groups based on personal preferences would have been formed. This stage will help to dissolve such groups and result in the formation of a more cohesive structure. Members begin to participate and contribute actively in group discussion. They will also begin to change their preconceived notions about other people in their group or at least begin to accept that differences that may exist between members. A feeling of mutual trust begins to emerge and member begins to experience a oneness among themselves. Once this stage is reached there will be high level of cohesion and the dynamics of the group will be high. Another aspect of this stage will be free exchange of ideas and data information among the members. This exchange can be for both personal and job related aspects. Creativity among the members individually and as a group will be at a high level. There is a negative aspect to all this in the sense that group member may become too attached to each other. They may resist in changes that might affect the group like removing or adding members. Moreover, any project have to end one day and members may find ways to extend the finish date of the project. Performing: The performing aspect will depend on how well the group has managed to come through the previous stage. if the previous stage was not successful, it will reflect poorly in their performance and the whole project will suffer. It seems that this group did not pass the norming stage successfully. Members can work independently, or as part of the whole group or sub-groups without any problems. Members will be more confident about themselves. Personal relationships among members will be high and qualities such as solution oriented thinking will emerge. Such a group will be highly motivated and morale and loyalty to the task at hand as well as to the group will be high. Productivity will peak during this stage and will be maintained till the project is completed. Such a group may also result in on-time, on-cost projects and may even better it by finishing projects before time and below cost. Adjourning: This aspect was only added later by Tucker and the model had only the first four stages initially. Tucker thought that adjournment was also important since the group is breaking up after completion of project. This stage will also be planned and will include performance recognitions and maybe a farewell party. The group leader will be giving up his powers and the group members their ownership of the group. If the group is highly cohesive, this will be a sad day for the members. It will be a relief if the group was not cohesive. Work Breakdown Structure: Work breakdown structure refers to breaking up of tasks in the project and assigning them to qualified and competent members in the group. This is also an important component in project management. According to Max Wideman, “Perhaps the most important technique in project management is the work breakdown structure (WBS).” (Work Breakdown Structures, Project Planning and Public Relations). Max Wideman is a management consultant, an authority on project management and author of several books on related topics. He was also instrumental in the formation of the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK). (Project Management Wisdom form Max Wideman). There are many elements of work in a project and they have a interaction between each other. The number of interactions or interfaces can be calculated using the formula. I = E(E -1) 2 (How much Confusion is Enough). Here ‘I’ is the number of interfaces and ‘E’ is the elements of the project. The total elements in the software package here have 11. Using the above formula would give 55 interactions or interfaces which are quite a lot. If there was more careful planning taking into consideration these elements and its interaction, the project would have been much better. It is true that these elements have been grouped into owner/administrator and user/customer. But allocating each of these two groups to two leaders would have made the task easier. Recovery Procedure As a recovery process, the team concentrated on the point wise flaws that needed modifications/ recovery for hoisting error free commercial web site. At first the color of the Home page has been changed into something sober to the user/client so that its attraction is increased. Some animations were incorporated in every pages to entice common surfers towards buying peripherals of PC. Some kind of schemes were assured for good buyers. Secondly, regarding the contents of the website. All relevant information regarding specification of parts of PC and its related FAQs and its answers are tried to be put in the Home page of Website. Good offers also incorporated in the Home page. Subsequent pages and their links are got displayed in the Home page itself for easy access to the user. Demonstration link page has been animated and made in an attractive way using open source software so that user could get easy and pleasant way of familiarization regarding buying/ searching of required products. E-Business also incorporated in the web page where customer opt for buy a particular product/ a group of products and credit card payment option enabled in that page. By modifying the Website the team wish that they have succeeded to develop a perfect commercial website which provide sale of computer peripherals. On Testing it has proved to be a new and innovated project which would escalate the PC peripheral business of the organization. Though the earlier version of this Web Development project failed to reach the standards and status prescribed by the Examiners, now with cent percent confidence it is submitted that the project would definitely achieve its prime objectives of attracting customers and develop business. With regard to Tucker’s five stage plan. The group in this case did not go through this process. it was essential to do so because of the diversity of the group. The forming stage was randomly done which was okay, and an attempt at bringing familiarity was attempted. But the storming stage was not effective. The member who did not work properly would have left the group due to inability to work with the group had this stage been effective. The norming stage also was not planned even though most of the members did their best. It also proves that even a few members can cause problems in group cohesion. Due to all this the performance stage suffered. So, one of the reasons for the poor result on the project was not going through the first three stages in a proper manner. Personally the adjournment stage was a sad one since a friendship was beginning to develop among group members. With regard to work breakdown structure, the total elements in the software package here have 11. Using the above formula would give 55 interactions or interfaces which are quite a lot. If there was more careful planning taking into consideration these elements and its interaction, the project would have been much better. It is true that these elements have been grouped into owner/administrator and user/customer. But allocating each of these two groups to two leaders would have made the task easier. Works Cited Shopping Cart Database Design. PHP MySQL Shopping Cart Tutorial. 2005-2008. 11 Aug. 2008. . Business Definition for: Group Dynamics. BNET Business Directory. 2008. 11 Aug. 2008. . Basic Group Theory: Tuckman’s Five Stages of Group Development. The Collaborative Research Model: Student Learning Teams in Undergraduate Research. 11 Aug. 2008. . Work Breakdown Structures, Project Planning and Public Relations. Max’s Project management wisdom. 11 Aug. 2008. . Project Management Wisdom form Max Wideman. PM Think – Project Management Thought Leadership. 25 Aug. 2005. 11 Aug. 2008. . How much Confusion is Enough. Project Management Consulting. 2002. 11 Aug. 2008. . Read More