1. 000740857 MAY HNIT OO KHIN Adding Value to Dreamland Fashion
Company and Promoting the Sales of Mens and Ladies Wear by
Utilizing Web-Centralized System SUPERVISOR: MR FRANCIS MURPHY WORD
COUNT: 11633 (Chapter 1 - 8) JUNE 2013 1
2. Abstract Ecommerce becomes a trend in the competitive
business world as it can bring many business value and benefit to
every company. So, Dreamland Fashion Company also wanted to develop
ecommerce website for creating new sales channel. This project will
cover the functions from product data entry, purchase from
suppliers, sell products online, delivery, online payment and
review section. Before developing this project, the concept of
ecommerce will be studied to broaden the knowledge of the target
field. Likewise, methodology, tools and techniques to be used will
have to be evaluated and compared so that the best project can be
produced. As a result, DSDM framework and UML are chosen to manage
the project. Moreover, PHP with MySQL database is selected to
develop the website. Apart from this, MoSCoW and timebox are
applied to control the timeframe. All the facts from project
analysis to development to deliver a successful project are fully
described in details with eight chapters plus appendices in this
report. After completing this project, I could also enhance my
knowledge and experience in the field of both business and IT.
2
3. Acknowledgements Firstly, I want to express my genuine
appreciation to University of Greenwich and also KMD for giving me
a chance to develop this project. Moreover, I also want to pass my
special thanks to Mrs. Moe Pale, manager of KMD, for her help and
guidance. There is also one important person whom I want to say my
special words of gratitude. He is my project supervisor, Mr.
Francis Murphy, for making my knowledge broaden by giving me
valuable advice and guidance. In addition, I also thank Daw Nwe Nwe
Oo, managing director of Dreamland Fashion Company, for letting me
analyze and develop this project. Without her trust on me, I cannot
develop this project. I really appreciate everyone who helps me
during developing this project but left to describe here. 3
4. CONTENTS Abstract...... 2 Acknowledgements 3 Contents.. 4 1.
Introduction.. 7 1.1 Introduction. 7 1.2 Background Information. 7
1.3 Problem Areas. 8 1.4 Scope of Project.. 8 1.5 Aims and
Objectives.. 9 1.6 Chapter Summary 11 2. Literature Review 12 2.1
Introduction. 12 2.2 eCommerce Concepts for Online Fashion Store.
13 2.2.1 People 14 2.2.2 Public Policy 14 2.2.3 Marketing and
Advertisement 14 2.2.4 Support Services 16 2.2.5 Business
partnerships 17 2.3 Review of economic, legal, technological and
financial infrastructure to... 18 adopt EC for Dreamland 2.4
Methodology. 19 2.5 Techniques. 26 2.6 Tools.. 27 2.7 Chapter
Summary.. 33 3. Feasibility Study... 34 3.1 Introduction 34 4
5. 3.2 Deciding by using six suitability filters of DSDM. 34
3.3 Chapter Summary 35 4. Requirement Analysis and Requirement
Specification.... 36 4.1 Introduction. 36 4.2 Business Study
(Analysis) 37 4.2.1 Research on four similar fashion websites. 37
4.2.2 Proposed system Dreamland Fashion Website based on four
websites. 47 4.2.3 Interviews with Responsible Personnel.. 48 4.3
Requirements Specification 49 4.3.1 Functional Requirements
prioritized by MoSCoW 49 4.3.2 Non-functional Requirements 50 4.3.3
Use Case 51 4.3.4 Class Diagram 53 4.4 Chapter Summary.... 53 5.
System Design... 54 5.1 Introduction. 54 5.2 Database Design.. 54
5.3 Prototype. 54 5.4 Chapter Summary 55 6. System Development 56
6.1 Introduction. 56 6.2 Changes 56 6.3 Timebox Schedule 57 6.4
Chapter Summary.. 59 7. Evaluation. 60 7.1 Overview Summary. 60 7.2
Project Evaluation 60 7.2.1 Review on implemented database design
60 7.2.2 Review on front-end portion (customer site) of Dreamland
website 62 7.2.3 Review on back-end portion (admin site) of
Dreamland website 63 5
6. 7.2.4 Review on Development Processes. 64 7.3 Personal
Evaluation or Lessons learnt from Dreamland project.. 64 8.
Conclusion.. 66 Bibliography. 67 APPENDIX A Project Proposal.. 68
APPENDIX B Project Plan. 71 APPENDIX C Interviews 73 APPENDIX D Use
Case Description.. 78 APPENDIX E Class Diagram. 84 APPENDIX F
Prototype. 88 APPENDIX G Test Case and Test Log 90 6
7. Chapter 1. Introduction 1.1 Introduction In our country, the
number of people who surfs the internet has been obviously
increased as Internet has gained popularity between any ages during
a few years. As a result, many companies try to persuade the
customers to buy their products online and they think about online
marketing and online shopping issues which are different from the
traditional selling methods. 1.2 Background Information Dreamland
Fashion Company established in 2010, is one of the famous Fashion
Company in our country, Myanmar. It is a medium sized company with
10 branches sited all over the country. Its headquarters is located
at Yangon City and company operates with over 120 staff. A wide
range of stylish and fashionable catalogues can be available under
this company. As fashion becomes part of the life for everyone,
especially, teenagers, this company becomes a target for those
elegant ladies who like to wear trendy and beautiful blouses,
dresses, trousers, skirts, jeans, etc. Moreover, Dreamland is also
a big chance not to miss for boys and gentlemen who want to be the
handsome guys in gentlemanly, nice and smart shirts, jeans, style
pants, trousers, shorts, etc. At present, Dreamland could
strengthen its market position just by using offline selling
method, i.e. selling Mens and Ladies Wear at the branches of
Dreamland at supermarkets, shopping malls, etc. But now, Dreamland
also wants to promote its market sector and branch out into online
market. 7
8. 1.3 Problem Areas Some problem areas force into implementing
a new system for Dreamland. Firstly, Dreamland is using a manual
paper based system at present. All data is stored by each branch in
its own format. Apart from this, human input errors usually make
conflicts. So, when information is sent to headquarters or to each
branch, data inconsistency is always the big case. Secondly, since
branches are not situated in every town, it cannot reach country
wide. So, Dreamland cannot easily notify latest and trendy products
in accordance with time and this affects the marketing. Thirdly,
branches cannot open 24/7 because overtime cost given to employee
is a bit high. Thus, we cannot provide excellent customer service
and also cannot build a strong relationship with customers.
Consequently, Dreamland wants to implement website as one stop
online shopping place for all these matters. By implementing
website, customers can shop from any place where internet
connection is available at any time, efficiently reduce transaction
costs and easily compare different products. 1.4 Scope of Project
Scope of project must be defined to produce a successful business
model. The main intention of this project is to provide the
facility for the customers to shop around the company website
conveniently. Thus, customers must be able to visit our website,
browse the catalogues and search for the required items with size,
colour, price, etc. But, if they want to buy the products, they
must be the member of our website. Customers can add the items they
want to buy to the shopping cart. As we will have to deliver the
items, customers will need to give their contact information and
delivery contact information. After filling delivery information,
payment must be made. If customers want to check out, they will
have to make payment with their accounts which the customers can
deposit money at any branches of Dreamland. Customers can enquiry
or complaint if they are not satisfied with companys products and
services or if they want to inquiry about something. 8
9. Apart from this, there will be promotion page for the
purposes of marketing and to attract the customer's attention.
Review session will also be provided so that customers can know the
information of the latest products, discuss about company's
products and rate them. To support these front-end activities, some
back-end activities will be implemented for staff. These will
include recording information of products, customers, purchase,
sales, delivery and feedbacks. Moreover, there will also be a
function to produce daily or monthly reports concerned with which
products are the best sellers, daily or monthly income, complaint
information, etc. 1.5 Aims and Objectives As the major aim of
Dreamland project is to produce successful and efficient system to
the end users, user requirements must be correctly identified.
Identified user requirements must be useful for the end users.
Moreover, the system should have high usability to achieve more
satisfaction from users. Finally, the system can be maintainable
and extendable, i.e, must allow for future enhancements and
amendments. With the intention to achieve this aim, the objectives
described below are needed to be defined and accomplished. 1. To
analyze the requirements of the proposed Dreamland website and to
make research on the similar websites. Activities Capture the
companys requirements and processes by requirement analysis methods
such as interview, workshops, observation, documentation, etc.
Abstract the main processes that will be included in the proposed
system. Outline alternative technical requirements and solutions
for Dreamland website. Research the popular online shopping
websites and learn which how the contents are arranged and
displayed Deliverables Functional requirements and non-functional
requirements for the proposed system. (Chapter 4) The best content
arrangements and strengths and weaknesses of each website.
(Research on four similar fashion websites Chapter 4) 9
10. Interview schedule plus report (Interviews with Responsible
Personnel Chapter 4) 2. To define scope for Dreamland website and
create requirement specifications. Create Business Prototype such
as Use Case and Class Diagram based on analyzed and confirmed data.
Identify and prioritize the critical functionalities. Arrange
development schedule with milestones Deliverables Use Case, Class
Diagram and Screen Designs (Chapter 4) Prioritized functionalities
by using MoSCoW and Timebox. (Chapter 4 and Chapter 6) Project Plan
(Appendix B) 3. To evaluate the different methodologies, tools and
techniques to be used for our project Activities Compare and
evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of methodologies, tools and
techniques to manage the development processes. Choose the ones
which can meet the needs of our project best. Deliverables
Literature Review (Chapter 2) 4. To carry out design phase and
implement the system Activities Analyze the gathered information
again to document the system design. Create database design and
usability prototype such as screen designs. Implement Dreamland
website. Deliverables Design Approach (Chapter 5) Complete
Implemented System. 10
11. 5. To test functionalities and features of implemented
system with test cases and test logs Activities Arrange test
schedule and set test cases. Test the specified test cases whether
they meets with intended user requirements. Deliverables Test cases
and test logs to prove bug free and workable system (Appendix G) 6.
To review and evaluate the development of each phase Activities
Review and criticize whether each phase can fully support what the
users need or not. Evaluate whether the selected methodologies,
tools and techniques can really assist in the development of the
project or not. Review the difficulties and problems faced
throughout the project life cycle. Deliverables Written report
concerned with project (Chapter 7) Lessons learned report (Chapter
7) 1.6 Chapter Summary In this chapter, background information of
Dreamland Fashion Company is explained in detail. So, its market
position and in which market it is doing its business now can be
observed. Then, problem areas are identified and these point out
the reasons why Dreamland wants to develop the proposed system.
Next, scope of project is clearly described. Thus, which types of
functions will be included to help ease of Dreamland's business
processes can be seen. Finally, since aims and objectives are
justified obviously, there are more chances to deliver the
successful project. 11
12. Chapter 2. Literature Review 2.1 Introduction According to
Alemayehu Molla and Paul S. Licker (2005), "several studies of
eCommerce in developing countries have emphasized the influence of
contextual impediments related to economic, technological, legal,
and financial infrastructure as major determinants of eCommerce
adoption." So, the characteristics and flow of eCommerce should be
reviewed first to adopt eCommerce for a developing country like
Myanmar. Only if, potential risks can be identified and reduced.
Apart from this, a project cannot successfully come to an end
without carefully planned, analyzed and controlled. Methodology is
needed to choose because it can show the way of how a project can
be controlled in a systematic way to achieve the required
milestones and to deliver the system within a predefined timescale
and budget. On the other hand, tools and techniques are also
essential while developing a system because it can assist the
chosen methodology to be more effective. So, literature review
concerned with comparisons of methodologies, tools and techniques
will be carried out and the ones which can best converge to meet
the end users' needs will be chosen. 12
13. 2.2 eCommerce Concepts for Online Fashion Store Turban, et
al. (2008) states that "Electronic commerce (EC) is the process of
buying, selling, transferring, or exchanging products, services,
and/or information via computer networks, including the Internet."
Sometimes, the term E-Business is used instead of eCommerce because
it covers not just only buying and selling products and services
but also providing collaboration between business partners,
servicing customers, offering e-learning and supporting electronic
conduction of transactions within an organization. McKay and
Marshall (2004) also claims that "e-business is the use of the
Internet and other information technologies to support commerce and
improve business performance." EC can be classified based on the
nature of online transactions or interactions. Although there may
be many types, the following are the most accepted category of EC.
Following table is referenced from Tassabehji (2003) Figure 1
Classification of eCommerce Among them, Dreamland project can be
put under Business-to-Consumer (B2C) because it includes retail
transactions of clothing from company to individual customers. But,
it does not matter whether it is online fashion store or other
business. Whatever it is, Turban, et al. (2008) has shown that EC
applications has "five support areas: (i) people, (ii) public
policy, (iii) 13
14. marketing and advertisement, (iv) support services and (v)
business partnerships." These five support areas will be justified
by using Online Fashion Store as an example. 2.2.1 People The first
area, people, comprises of such people as a seller which is
Dreamland Fashion Company, buyers as well as customers, IS people,
employees and other participants whoever support EC in any ways.
2.2.2 Public Policy The second one, public policy, is mostly
influenced and controlled by the government and there can be a bit
different from one country to another. Technical standards defined
by the government, legal and regulatory issues, for example,
privacy protection policy and taxation are included in this
important support area. The policy also varies according to the
products. If products are digital products such as music, software,
ebook, etc, breaching copyright law prescribed in intellectual
property law is usually the most found issue. For some fashion
online stores, they have to order clothing from foreign countries.
So, taxation and shipping fees should be shown on the websites. So,
every EC website should declare their respective policy clearly.
2.2.3 Marketing and Advertisement Like commerce, eCommerce also
needs strong marketing and advertisement support area so that it
can persist longer in the competitive market. Especially, it is
crucially important for Business to Consumer type of online
transactions like Dreamland Fashion Company because the sellers and
customers do not know each other. So, many tactical ways should be
applied to retain the loyalty of customers. 14
15. Market Research Firstly, market research needs to be
conducted to understand the consumer behavior online. A critical
success factor for Dreamland which is B2C category is to make
customers happy by identifying what customers need and providing
them to fulfill their wish. From the result of market research,
customers also demand for convenience, customer service and product
quality in addition to price. Moreover, they often have desire to
inspire the online shopping experience. So, while attempting to
adopt ecommerce for Dreamland, these facts should be taken into
account to retain the long term customers. Promotions and Sales
Discount Secondly, B2C companies gradually increase in the market
and they apply many ways to persuade customers. One of the most
commonly seen methods is promotions and sales discount. Since
customers usually look for discounted products by making cross-site
comparisons, B2C companies usually strength relationship with
customers with monthly promotion or special promotion period.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) It is essential to retain
the loyal customers in the field of both commerce and ecommerce.
Since loyal customers are key to success of a company, many
companies approach a business strategy known as CRM. For internet
based ecommerce, eCRM is central requirement for survival and for
obtaining competitive advantages. According to Plant (2000), "Four
parts compose the value chain for CRM. They are (1) customer
acquisition (prepurchase support), (2) customer support during
purchase, (3) customer fulfillment (purchase dispatch) and (4)
customer continuance support (postpurchase)." 15
16. Online Marketing and Advertisement Like traditional offline
marketing, there are also three types of online marketing: - Mass
Marketing, (this type of marketing targets to everyone. The benefit
of it is reaching to the mass number of people and creating
interpersonal communication with whoever sees it. The drawback of
it is that sometimes, it can be a waste. ) - Market Segmentation,
(this type of marketing promotes the goods or services to a group
of potential customers. The advantage of it is that better response
rate can be obtained than mass marketing as it matches the needs of
target audience. Generally, market segment is defined based on
gender, age and purchase pattern.) - One-to-one Marketing (this
type of marketing treats particular customer in a unique way. This
is the most effective way of marketing because products can exactly
match with individual customers. So, there is more possibility to
build long-term and unique relationship with individual customers.)
After deciding what type of marketing should be used, a variety of
online advertising methods can be applied to achieve the marketing
goals. The most popular one is email advertising because of
reaching to a mass of audience and its low cost. Search Engine
Optimization is also a well-known advertising method in persuading
new customers. So, many companies use AdWords which is offered by
Google to make their website URL appear at the top of Google's
display. Since people are usually influenced by society, social
networks and blogs become the target place for advertising and
promoting products. In addition to these methods, banner swapping,
pop-up ads, newspaper-like and classified ads and newsletters are
used to draw the consumers' attention in the world of ecommerce.
2.2.4 Support Services eCommerce is supported by many services from
content creation to order fulfillment, logistics to payments.
Unlike commerce, new functions such as delivery process, payment
via internet and security support are introduced in ecommerce.
Every ecommerce website is linked to the online banks or payment
gateways such as PayPal to accomplish payment process. Visa,
Master, American Express credit card can be used to make 16
17. payment. But, this type of payment is not widespread used
in Myanmar although some banks allow to use these cards and a
payment gateway called MyanPay has recently been established. Some
methods such as cash on delivery and gift card are widely used in
Myanmar. Many B2C companies like Dreamland also accept payment with
account which must be opened at their companies by depositing
money. There should also have high security support for ecommerce
website because survival of EC companies is dependent on the trust
of the customers. To let the customers feel that their privacy
information is highly secure, EC companies usually partner with
third party which provides SSL certificate. By using SSL service
and by using encrypting method (Message Digest), they can protect
customer's privacy information from security issues and attacks.
2.2.5 Business partnerships Exchanges, joint ventures and other
several types of business partnerships can be observed in EC. They
relate with each other to support EC and their collaboration and
coordination usually takes place throughout the supply chain. In
other words, it occurs when EC Company interacts with its
customers, suppliers and other partners. E.g. affiliate programs
which are mostly found on B2C website are one of the types of
business partnership. 17
18. 2.3 Review of economic, legal, technological and financial
infrastructure to adopt EC for Dreamland Based on section 2.2
eCommerce Concepts for Online Fashion Store and other findings,
this section will be written. Due to the economic growth in
Myanmar, commercial world has gradually changed into more
progressive as well as more aggressive form. The paper world is
replaced with the digital world in order to live in harmony with
the competitive business world, to reduce cost and to be more
efficient in doing business. Moreover, since selling online can
reach country wide and more potential customers can do shopping, it
can promote the rate of sales and it is economic for Dreamland. In
Myanmar, there is not too many laws, regulations and taxation
prescribed for online shopping store. If products are imported from
foreign countries, there is tax law. But, since clothing and other
products of Dreamland are made only in local, tax will not have to
be paid. Although Myanmar is a developing country, there is enough
technology available to support ecommerce website. Moreover, there
are also proficient technicians and website developers from
creating website content to maintaining website. From financial
perspective, there will be tangible costs for the development of
Dreamland website, cost for buying domain name and hosting,
internet-line costs and software/hardware/network cost. But, it
will not cost too much and benefits will be over total costs in
terms of both tangible benefits (money) and intangible benefits
(usability, availability, customer satisfaction, etc) Therefore,
after making review on these four aspects, adoption of EC seems to
be the best approach for the future success of Dreamland. 18
19. 2.4 Methodology David, et al (2003) states that "a
methodology will consist of phases, themselves consisting of sub
phases, which will guide the systems developer in their choice of
the techniques that might be appropriate at each stage of the
project and also help them plan, manage, control, and evaluate
information systems projects". The importance of using methodology
can be inferred from this statement. So, two well-known
methodologies are chosen to compare based on their weakness and
good points for our project. They are Structured Systems Analysis
and Design Methodology (SSADM) and Dynamic Systems Development
Method (DSDM). 2.4.1 SSADM SSADM is a traditional methodology with
well-defined seven phases. But, it is a heavyweight methodology
which requires heavy documentations. So, this kind of methodology
should be used by only large-scale software development project.
According to our research, we found that many projects in UK,
especially projects for public organizations and government, are
implemented by using SSADM which is a formal methodology. Paul
Bocij (2006) also concluded that "SSADM is a methodology that
defines the methods of analysis and design that should occur in a
large-scale software development project. It is used extensively in
the UK, particularly in government and public organizations". SSADM
highlights the feasibility, analysis and design for the required
project but it does not consider the implementation and maintenance
aspects of the system. Moreover, iteration is not allowed by this
methodology. 19
20. The following SSADM lifecycle is referenced from the work
of author David Patel. Website Culture, 2012. Available at <
www.websiteculture.com/david/docs/methodolgy_lifecycle.doc >
[Accessed 13 April 2013]. Figure 2 Structure of SSADM 20
21. Potential Strengths One of the most obvious potential
strengths of SSADM is that it applies uses 3 techniques to create
information system viability. Logical data modeling documents the
entities of a system and relationships each other. Data flow
modeling which is the second technique determines how data is
carried into and out of the system. Finally, Entity event modeling
shows how entities are affected by the business events. Besides, it
uses good documentation standards and project managed with SSADM is
well documented. Apart from this, developers have more authority
and freedom to get on with it because users do not usually heavily
involve throughout the development. Potential Weakness Development
times can be long because each stage must be finished completely
before starting the next stage. In addition, SSADM needs too much
documentation leading to high cost and time consuming. So, if an
organization wants to adopt SSADM, it should have large resources.
SSADM is sequential and not iterative. Thus, changes are not
allowed and cannot easily be implemented. Unfortunately, user needs
always change quickly to keep pace with ever changing business
world. In worst cases, even system failure occurs and end users
reject the delivered system because user requirements are captured
at early stages of life cycle and system is built based on these
requirements. 21
22. 2.4.2 DSDM DSDM is a framework rather than a methodology
and it is formed by modifying Rapid Application Development (RAD).
Unlike RAD, it is quick and processes can be performed in a short
period of time within 6 months in a well-controlled project
environment. We noticed that DSDM has gradually gained popularity
because it is more flexible than the traditional methodology as it
allows iterative and incremental approach. The philosophy that is
behind DSDM is very simple. Stapleton (1997) states that DSDM is
based on four main facts: "(1) Development is a team effort. It
must combine the users' knowledge of the business requirements with
the technical skills of IT professionals. (2) High quality demands
fitness for purpose as well as technical robustness. (3)
Development can be incremental and (4) Resources must be spent
developing the features of most value to the business." By
embracing these facts, DSDM is used to effectively understand,
communicate, plan, control and deliver all projects in its
development lifecycle which has five phases. They are (i)
feasibility study phase, (ii) business study phase, (iii)
functional model iteration phase, (iv) system design and build
iteration phase and (v) implementation phase. DSDM four main
techniques such as JAD workshop, prototyping, MoSCoW and timeboxing
also add value to DSDM. Figure 3 Structure of DSDM 22
23. Potential Strengths DSDM embraces the concept of active
user involvement is important. So, JAD workshops are held to
encourage the user commitments. In addition, prototyping is used to
ensure that user requirements are correctly captured and MOSCOW
technique is applied to prioritize the functional requirements and
to emphasize on the most important processes. Later, requirements
with the largest potential profits are firstly developed with the
help of Timeboxing technique to be able to deliver them within a
fixed timescale. Moreover, since DSDM is a product-base view, it
concentrates on frequent delivery of the working parts of the
system and this can solve the immediate needs of business as soon
as possible. Potential Weakness DSDM is not a good solution for
computationally complex applications and projects which are going
to develop for new and innovative technology. Apart from this,
since end users have to be involved throughout the development,
they gradually understand their requirements more and more.
Therefore, they change their requirements again and again and they
also want to add other extra functions. This can affect the
developers, time, scope and money if it is not controlled
effectively. 23
24. 2.4.3 UML From the work of David, et al (2003), UML can be
defined as "a graphical language, or a notation, for modeling
systems analysis and design concepts in an object-oriented
fashion." UML itself is not a project development methodology. It
is just a graphical language usually used in combination with other
project management methodology to increase the power and efficiency
of methodology. Moreover, it is independent of particular
development methodologies or programming languages. UML has 12
different diagrams which can be categorized into three groups:
static application diagram, dynamic behaviour diagrams and
represents diagrams. Potential Strengths UML provides expressive
and ready-to-use visual modeling language to extend the core
concepts of projects. Different types of UML diagrams can be used
in their own ways to capture the user requirements from different
aspects. All types of diagram will not have to be used. Based on
the chosen methodology and the developer who will use it, diagrams
can be used as required. This is because 80% of problem areas can
be pointed out by using only about 20% of the UML. 24
25. 2.4.4 Methodology chosen for developing our system (DSDM
with UML) Since our system has to be finished within 6 months, we
assumed that DSDM will be more effective than SSADM which takes too
much time. By using DSDM, 80 percentages of functions can be
obtained at 20 percentage of time because the most essential
functions can be delivered rapidly at regular intervals. Hence,
development time will not be behind schedule and the required
system can be timely delivered without exceeding the allowed
budget. Apart from making use of four techniques of DSDM, UML which
is an expressive and visual modeling language will be taken into
our development of the system to speed up the processes and to
enhance the quality. We do hope that it can be more beneficial in
capturing the user requirements by combining DSDM and UML than
other methodologies. This is because both of them encourage user
involvement and allow iterations. 25
26. 2.5 Techniques David, et al (2003) claimed that "a
technique is a way of doing a particular activity in the
information systems development process, and any particular
methodology may recommend techniques to carry out many of these
activities". So, some techniques should be applied to assist the
chosen methodology. As we have expressed above, we will use UML
modeling language to assist DSDM. Although UML has 12 types of
diagram, we supposed that not all diagrams will be needed for
analyzing our system. So, only use case diagram and class diagram
will be chosen for system analysis and design purposes. We will
explain below about the reasons of why we chose them. 2.5.1 Use
Case Diagram Since use case diagram can explicitly confirm the high
level functional requirements of the system and show which
functions are carried out by whom, users can know immediately if
important functions are missed to take into account. Moreover, the
developers can see the system behaviours from the point of view of
end-users. 2.5.2 Class Diagram Class diagrams are very helpful in
identifying what sorts of data are needed to store in the database.
By analyzing the system with the help of class diagram, we can know
the relationships between data tables and which data tables
together with their attributes must be created for the database of
our system. Moreover, we can predict which methods are required to
include in our system just by looking at operations of each class
contained in our class diagram. 26
27. 2.6 Tools From the work of David, et al (2003), it can be
inferred that "tools represent some of the artefacts used in
information systems development." For the development of Dreamland
website, programming language and database need to be evaluated and
chosen. So, these will be reviewed in the following sub sections
(2.6.1) and (2.6.2). 2.6.1 Programming Languages Despite of having
many programming languages to develop a dynamic website in the
programming language market, we will compare ASP.net and PHP which
are the most familiar languages for us. ASP.NET ASP.Net is based on
object oriented programming language and it provides a library and
efficient IDE which can help developers to save time in developing
a project. Moreover, we can find the encountered errors easily
because it has built-in debugging functions. However, ASP.Net is
the proprietary software of Microsoft. So, we will need to purchase
the license for this software, IIS web server and database.
Besides, ASP.Net cannot run on multi platforms, i.e. it can only
run on Windows server. PHP Originally, PHP was known as "Personal
Home Page" although it now stands for "Hypertext PreProcessor".
According to the php official home page available at
http://php.net/ [Accessed 14 April 2013], "PHP is a widely-used
general-purpose scripting language that is especially suited for
Web development and can be embedded into HTML." PHP is open source
software and everyone can get it free. The most obvious advantage
of PHP is that it supports many DBMSs and runs on multiple
platforms such as Linux, Unix, Windows, Mac OS, etc. 27
28. Comparisons of PHP and ASP.NET The following table is
referenced from Bischolar website available at
http://www.bischolar.com/comparison.php [Accessed 13 April 2013]
Figure 4 Comparison of PHP and ASP.NET 28
29. Based on the surveys of Web Technology Surveys (2013), it
is found that 78.9% of websites which use server-side programming
language are implemented with PHP. Available at
http://w3techs.com/technologies/overview/programming_language/all
[Accessed 14 April 2013 ] Figure 5 Rank of prgramming languages
Programming language chosen for developing our system (PHP) Unlike
ASP.Net, PHP is open source software and everyone can get it free.
This is the main factor why I think I should choose PHP. If the
response time has to be compared, browsing ASP.Net web pages take
more time than requesting PHP web pages. So, the response time can
be speed up if PHP is used. We can also say that PHP is more bug
free than ASP.Net. As it is open source software, there are many
developers who are using this software and they have the right to
correct the bugs. Consequently, PHP can be rehabilitated and
released more quickly than ASP.Net. According to the table above,
PHP is more secure than ASP.Net because IIS web server has faced
with many numerous attacks. PHP can run on the multi platforms and
this makes more convenient for the developers. 29
30. 2.6.2 Database Database is also a central factor which can
help a project to be successful. So, developer will need to think
thoroughly while choosing the database for the proposed system. In
the market, Oracle, MS SQL and MySQL are the most promising
databases which can be used with PHP. So, some comparisons will be
made between these three DBMSs. Oracle With reference from
http://www.techopedia.com/definition/8711/oracle-database [Accessed
15 April 2013], "Oracle database (Oracle DB) is a relational
database management system (RDBMS) from the Oracle Corporation.
Oracle DB is one of the most trusted and widely-used relational
database engines." It can run on various platforms and there are
four different DB versions available to meet with user requirements
and budget. They are Express Edition, Standard Edition One,
Standard Edition and Enterprise Edition. Oracle has a very flexible
data network whose data capacity can be increased or decreased to
suit with users' demand. This can be done without degradation of
service. It also designs as a robust system because it protects
from all common causes of accidental or planned downtime, including
human error. MS SQL Microsoft SQL server is developed by Microsoft.
Just like Oracle, the latest version SQL Server 2012 comes with
three license configurations. They are new business intelligence
edition, enterprise edition and standard edition. SQL server offers
a robust system by providing the ability to handle a large number
of transactions, users and capacity of data. It also includes
locking function for concurrency control. So, it can prevent the
changes concurrently made to the 30
31. same transaction. A wide variety of tools facilitate
database administrators for managing the database with high level
of control. MySQL MySQL is a multi-user and open source relational
database management system which is now under proprietary products
of Oracle Corporation. It is mostly used for implementing the web
applications and also for developing open source projects.
According to MySQL (2013) available at
http://www.mysql.com/why-mysql/#en-0-34 [Accessed 16 April 2013],
it stated that "Many of the world's largest and fastest-growing
organizations including Facebook, Google, Adobe, Alcatel Lucent and
Zappos rely on MySQL to save time and money powering their
high-volume Web sites, business-critical systems and packaged
software." MySQL also provides high flexibility because it can run
on over several different platforms. Another major good point of
MySQL is that it is available for free and this freely downloadable
version (MySQL Community Edition) can even support large enterprise
to implement scalable and high performance database. But,
commercial customers can purchase any one of three types of MySQL
editions to meet their specific requirements either for business or
for technology. These three types are as follows: (i) Standard
Edition, (ii) Enterprise Edition and (iii) Cluster Carrier Grade
Edition. 31
32. Comparisons of three databases Area Oracle MySQL SQL Many
security features Many security features Moderate Editions Multiple
Editions Multiple Editions Multiple Editions OS Platform Multi
Platforms Microsoft Windows only Multi Platforms Cost High High
Cheap (can get both in Database Security free or paid form)
Compatibility Compatible Not too much Compatible with PHP (can have
some errors) Max DB Size Unlimited Unlimited Compatible Unlimited
32
33. Database chosen for developing our system (MySQL) Cost MS
SQL and Oracle are the proprietary while MySQL is open source
database. So, the costs for the first two databases are higher than
MySQL which can be downloaded for free. Functionalities, Security
and Platform Although it is true that Oracle is the best database
which can support more functionalities and security features than
MS SQL and MySQL, it is too complex to use and the beginner
developers are not familiar to use it. Although MS SQL is simple to
use like MySQL and can support nearly the same functionalities as
in MySQL, MS SQL cannot run on multiple platforms like MySQL and
Oracle. Compatibility Moreover, we have learnt that MySQL is more
compatible with PHP than the other two according to the research
and the experiences told by my seniors and other programmers. So,
these are the main reasons why MySQL is chosen to be used for
Dreamland project. 2.7 Chapter Summary Chapter 2 discusses about
literature review on the things and areas required for implementing
ecommerce website for Dreamland Fashion Company. The concept of
ecommerce was researched and many comparisons on methodologies,
tools and techniques are carried out. As a result, in-depth
knowledge of requirements to adopt ecommerce website is gained and
the right solutions could be chosen. To manage and analyze the
requirements for Dreamland project, DSDM with UML will be applied.
Moreover, Dreamland website will be implemented with PHP and MySQL
database will be used to store data. 33
34. Chapter 3. Feasibility Study 3.1 Introduction In chapter 2,
DSDM methodology is decided to use for managing Dreamland project.
But, DSDM is not possible to use for all projects. So, it will be
needed to assess whether DSDM is the right methodology for this
project. This will be done based on six suitability filters of
DSDM. These six filters are referenced from Stapleton (1997). 3.2
Deciding by using six suitability filters of DSDM (1) "Is the
functionality going to be reasonable visible at the user
interface?" The answer is 'Yes'. Since it is only an ecommerce
website, functionalities are the same with other websites.
Moreover, the users can see clearly what they want and the purposes
of developing this project. (2) "Can you clearly identify all
classes of end users?" The answer is 'Yes'. End-user involvement is
imperative for all DSDM projects. In this Dreamland project, a
number of end-users can be clearly identified. (3) "Is the
application computationally complex?" The answer is 'No'. The
system that is going to be developed is neither safety critical
system nor innovative system. The system is only an ecommerce
website which has similar features and functionalities like other
websites. (4) "Is the application potentially large? If it is, can
it be split into smaller functional components?" The answer is
'Yes'. Dreamland website is a reasonably large ecommerce website
which includes many functions and features. However, each function
can be divided into sub functions and can be delivered separately
in discrete chunks. 34
35. (5) "Is the project really time constrained?" The answer is
'Yes'. This project must be delivered within 6 month period. So, it
is under time constraint. (6) "Are the requirements flexible and
only specified at a high level?" The answer is 'Yes'. Users specify
only high level requirements and low level requirements can be
subject to change to meet the business requirements. 3.3 Chapter
Summary In this chapter 3, whether DSDM is suitable for Dreamland
project or not is determined based on six suitability filters
defined by DSDM Consortium. It is found that DSDM is the right
approach. So, analysis for the requirements of proposed Dreamland
website will be discussed in details in chapter 4. 35
36. Chapter 4. Requirement Analysis and Requirement
Specification 4.1 Introduction This chapter will explain how user
requirements for Dreamland will be captured by applying many
requirement capturing methods. Firstly, making research on similar
fashion website will be carried out to understand the standard
features that a fashion website should have. This will be done by
analyzing four fashion websites. Secondly, interviews and JAD
workshop meetings will be conducted with end-users of Dreamland
Company from operational to management level. After analyzing
Dreamland system, requirement specification will be processed.
Firstly, functional and non-functional requirements of proposed
Dreamland website will be pointed out. Next, MoSCoW technique will
be applied to specify and prioritize the important functions. After
specifying the functions for Dreamland project, Business prototype
such as use case diagram and class diagram will be used because it
is the best communication tool and it can to describe clearly what
the proposed system will do. Since it is DSDM project, all of these
analysis and requirement specification will be carried out by
letting different classes of DSDM users involved. Users who must be
participated consist of executive sponsor, ambassador users,
advisor users, visionary, project manager, team leader, technical
developer, tester, developer and scribe. 36
37. 4.2 Business Study 4.2.1 Research on four similar fashion
websites What make a fashion website successful? To find out this
answer, I made research on several websites. Among these websites,
four best websites will be taken to make comparisons. According to
TURBAN, et al. (2008), we realized that there are eleven main
website design criteria which can make a website successful. They
are navigation, response time, consistency, quality assurance,
appearance, availability, content, usability, interactivity,
security and scalability. These eleven criteria can be put under
three general topics: (1) usability and appearance, (2) features
and (3) security and trust. Based on these three topics, good
points will be pointed out to take into Dreamland website and
weakness will also be considered to leave out while designing and
implementing the website. 37
38. (i) The first website:
http://www.oasis-stores.com/?lng=en&ctry=GB&lng=en&ctry=&
[Accessed 22 March 2013] Figure 6 Oasis Website (1) Usability and
Appearance Oasis website uses beautiful and big images which can
grasp the attention of ladies. Placing Sale 70% off in big space at
the top of the home page can also attract the new visitors as well
as regular customers to the website. Moreover, main categories of
products are displayed with menu bar beside the company logo. This
makes the visitors see clearly and quickly which products are sold
by Oasis website. Under each category, there are subcategories
shown in tree view. When customers browse the catalogue and look at
the product details, related products and respective product review
is shown. Products can be searched with price, size and colour and
can also be sorted by highest to 38
39. low price, newest and rating. So, this website provides
high search and make customers easy to use and navigate. But, since
the images of products are not displayed at the home page, visitors
will not see the products at first glance. Most people attempt to
buy a product when they see it visually. This can decrease the
demands of customers. (2) Features People are usually interested in
gift and they usually search for delivery information while buying
online. As all these information can be easily seen at the footer
region, more satisfaction of visitors can be obtained. People are
generally influenced by their surrounding society. By using this
concept, statistical evidence 77,764 likes on facebook is put at
the middle top of the website. Moreover, help feature is also
included to let the customers help themselves. (3) Security and
Trust Critical thing for ecommerce websites is security. People
usually believe that a website is secure only when they see third
party logos which provide the services for security. Logos of
Verisign and McAfee are included at the bottom right corner of
website. But, privacy policy is not clearly described. Strengths
Weaknesses - Using beautiful and big images - Website design is too
simple. - Placing Sale 70% off in big space - Cannot see the
products visually on the home - Using statistical evidence 77,764
likes on page. facebook - A bit complex for navigation for beginner
- Delivery information, gift card information, users. etc can be
easily seen at the footer region - Include third party logos for
security 39
40. (ii) The second website: http://www.sammydress.com/
[Accessed 22 March 2013] Figure 7 Sammy Website 40
41. (1) Usability and Appearance Website layout is systematic
and attractive. According to survey, the most important items are
put at top right corner of a website. As Sign in link, Register
link and Company Phone No is placed at this place, it can increase
the chances of getting new customers and help the customers more.
Categories of product are displayed at left side bar. So, customers
can know immediately which products are available. Animated slide
show below menu bar also helps in obtaining customer's attention.
Weekly Deals, New Arrivals, Hot Sales, Popular Search and other
advertisements are also shown on home page to arouse the customer's
desire to purchase. (2) Feature This website provides feature of
currency change. The prices of products will be changed according
to the specific customer choice of currency type. So, it will not
be necessary to calculate money via exchange rate of customer's
country. Social media to keep in touch with SAMMY community and
third parties logos for delivery, payment and website security are
provided at the bottom of the page. Quick index feature is also
included to let the customers search products with alphabet. (3)
Security and Trust For website security, they partner with McAfee
and tested date is also displayed. Payment gateway PayPal is also
used to make the customers believe that electronic payment is
secure. Ecommerce website cannot survive without having good
delivery service. So, DHL and EMS logos are shown at the footer
region to guarantee that order can be delivered on the agreed time.
Other policy such as privacy policy, terms and conditions, warranty
and return, payment methods, and shipping and handlings are clearly
mentioned on the website. 41
42. Strengths Weaknesses - Website layout is systematic and
attractive. - Displaying too much products and - It follows the
standard website layout. (put advertisements on home page.
important things on top right corner) - It is a little bit cramped
on home page. - Different categories are displayed systematically.
- Navigation is easy. - Using Animated slide show for eye-catching
purposes - Linking with social media - Including third parties
logos for delivery, payment and website security - Providing
abundant information to the customers. 42
43. (iii) The third website:
http://www.boohoo.com/usa/page/home/ [Accessed 22 March 2013]
Figure 8 boohoo website 43
44. (1) Usability and Appearance Website layout is simple.
Website design is spick and span because of using only big images
of celebrities. Since people usually keep eyes on what their ideal
celebrities wear and imitate them, the technique used by this
website can acquire great success. Most of fashion websites are
dedicated to young people especially teenagers. Thus, colours used
in the website should be their favourite ones. Only if, this
fashion website can sustain the target audience for longer. We can
say that choice of colours by boohoo website is perfect because of
choosing mostly black, white and pink which are crazy colours of
teenagers. (2) Features It includes a feature for the customers to
receive the latest style updates by signing up. Like Sammy website,
a feature of currency change is also offered. Delivery options are
also described on home page so that customer can choose his/her
preferable delivery option. The company also creates the blog for
customers who do not have desire to do online shopping but have
intension for window shopping can observe the review of the
products and view other customers' comments. This website also has
links to social media such as facebook, twitter. (3) Security and
Trust Since awards got by boohoo were shown at bottom right corner
of website, trust from customers can be gained more. In addition,
terms of use, types of acceptable payment and privacy policy are
clearly stated. PCI Compliant logo which ensures that credit card
information is transferred in a secure environment is also placed
to let the customers feel safe and secure for their credit card.
Strengths Weaknesses - Website layout is simple but eye-catching. -
It will be better and customers can - Using only big images of
celebrities. pick up the latest fashion trend if - Using favourite
colours of targeted audience sample of 4 or 5 new arrival products
- Showing awards got by boohoo, PCI Compliant logo or hot products
are displayed at home increases customers' trust page. - Includes a
feature for sending the latest style updates - Consists of links to
social media 44
45. (iv) The fourth website:
http://www.smpasoe.com/index.php?gOo=shop.dwt [Accessed 22 March
2013] Figure 9 smpasoe website 45
46. (1) Usability and Appearance As it is a fashion website,
design should be eye-catching. But, design is too simple and
colours used in the website are not striking. Although black, white
and red are actually the bright colours, black fonts on white
background make the whole web page simple and not attractive. For a
fashion website, look and feel should be on top priority.
Functionality to search products by categories and ability to sort
products by New, Recommend, Hot, Special, Brand, Promotion, Gift
are provided on top portion. Therefore, customers can easily see
them and can conveniently search the products which meet their
requirements. (2) Features As this website is intended for Myanmar
people who are not familiar with online shopping, links such as
Guestbook, FAQ, Buying Guide and Help Center are positioned at
obvious places like header and footer regions of the website to
assist the customers in purchasing products online. (3) Security
For privacy policy issue, this website claims that they will not
let the customer personal information leak to other institution and
individuals. This statement is shown on every page to make
customers notice of it. Strengths Weaknesses - Can search products
by categories and sort - Design is not cool and eye-catching. with
various criteria. - Black fonts on white background make the - Many
features such as Guestbook, FAQ, whole web page simple and not
attractive. Buying Guide and Help Center are used to assist the
beginner users. - It cares for privacy policy and shows on every
page. 46
47. 4.2.2 Proposed system Dreamland Fashion Website based on
four websites All fashion websites are similar because standard
features for ecommerce websites are the same. After analyzing four
websites above, layout, design and display of products seem to be
the most important priorities for a fashion website. So, Dreamland
website will be designed and implemented based on the research. (1)
Usability and Appearance Most fashion website use black because it
is crazy colour of young people. So, black color for background and
white font will be chosen for Dreamland website. In addition,
purple is also selected because its symbolic meaning is luxurious
and attractive. While making comparisons of four websites, boohoo
website seems to get more attention because of using large images
of celebrities. So, their techniques will be followed by utilizing
the slide show showing big images of celebrities in fashionable
clothes. Functionality to search with product category, size,
colour or price on left side bar will be provided so that customers
can conveniently refine their requirements. Moreover, the ability
to sort the display of products by Latest, Brand, Price and
Popularity will also be included. (2) Features On Oasis, Sammy,
boohoo website, we found some social media icons. Since people are
usually influenced by their social surroundings, social network
icons such as facebook, twitter should need to be included for the
purpose of mass marketing as well as word-of-mouth marketing. Apart
from this, we also add additional feature to send the latest style
to the customers like boohoo website. (3) Security and Trust Like
four websites we had analyzed, type of payment we accepted and
third party logo (Verisign) for website security will be placed to
make the customers believe that our website is secure. 47
48. 4.2.3 Interviews with Responsible Personnel Interview
Schedule Interviewee Date Time Location Daw Nwe Nwe Oo 22 November
2012 11:00 am 12:15 pm At Daw Nwe Nwe's (Managing Director of
office Dreamland Company) Daw Yuzana 23 November 2012 10:00 am
12:15 pm (Manager of Purchase At Dreamland's meeting room
Department) Daw Aye Mon (Staff of Purchase Department) U Kaung Myat
26 November 2012 10:00 am 12:15 pm (Manager of Sales At Dreamland's
meeting room Department) Daw Hla Win (Sales Executive) U Sai Sai 27
November 2012 10:00 am 11:15 pm (Senior Staff at At Dreamland's
meeting room Delivery Department) Daw Moe Moe 28 November 2012 Daw
Shwe Zin 11:00 am 12:00 pm At Dreamland's meeting room (Operation
Staff) SEE APPENDIX C (Pg- 73) 48
49. 4.3 Requirements Specification 4.3.1 Functional
Requirements prioritized by MoSCoW Must Have Register customer
information Register staff Save supplier information Input
information for items Insert information for subitems Record
purchase information Sales information Buy a product Should Have
Saving delivery information Record product review for review
section Payment process (Dreamland Account) Recharge money to
Dreamland Account Could Have Save promoted Subitems Make/solve
enquires and complaints Comment and rate reviews and products Add
to wish list View purchase history Daily/Monthly Sales/Purchase
Report Stock report Best sellers report Would Have Return products
Damaged products Notify users when quantity of each product in the
stock is lower than the predefined quantity 49
50. 4.3.2 Non-functional Requirements Since the target audience
is Myanmar people who are novices for shopping online, Dreamland
website should be designed and implemented by targeting high
usability and consistency so that the visitors can easily navigate
around the website. To attract the new visitors, eye-catching
colors and attractive design element must also be used. Short
response time and 24/7 availability service should be offered to
get the sustainable customers. Simultaneously, high security must
be provided to let the customers make payment online without doubt
and to make them believe that their privacy information is secure.
50
51. 4.3.3 Use Case Figure 10 Dreamland Online Fashion Store for
Staff Use Case 51
52. Figure 11 Dreamland Online Fashion Store for Customer Use
Case 52
53. 4.3.4 Class Diagram (See Appendix E for more class diagrams
(pg - 85)) Figure 12 Class Diagram for Product Entry and Purchase
from Suppliers 4.4 Chapter Summary In this chapter, features of
four fashion websites are observed and standard features could be
pointed out. Based on the research of these four websites, features
to be used in Dreamland website could be defined. Moreover, user
requirements such as functional and non-functional requirements
could be easily identified by using many analysis methods such as
interviews and JAD workshop. With the help of MoSCoW, functions
could be prioritized. So, important functions can be delivered
first and it can be useful if it is behind schedule. Use case and
class diagrams also helped in describing the proposed system
clearly. 53
54. Chapter 5. System Design 5.1 Introduction This chapter will
describe design related matters. This will include how database of
Dreamland will be structured and how user friendly HCI interfaces
will be designed. So, samples of prototypes will be demonstrated in
this chapter. 5.2 Database Design MySql database will be used to
store data for Dreamland website. Class Diagram described in
Chapter 4 will have to be reviewed to produce the tables. In the
database design, the classes drawn in the class diagrams will
become tables. Likewise, attributes in each class will become the
fields in respective tables. Primary key will be defined for each
table and this key must be unique and not null. For all one to many
relationships, primary key of one table will become foreign key in
another related table. By this way, Dreamland database could be
well-structured and well-designed. 5.3 Prototype Prototype will be
used to let the end-users see clearly what their system is and how
it will function. So, some sample prototypes will be shown here.
Consistency in design and the use of colours is the most important
factor for every website. Thus, purple having symbolic meaning of
luxurious and attractive and young people's favourite colours:
black and white and will be used for the whole website. At the top
of dreamland website, company logo, slogan and important things
such as search box, sign in button and shopping cart will be placed
because this place is the one which can be seen at first glance by
the visitors. Navigation bar which include menus such as Home,
Review, Ladies, Men, Promotion and Company Info will also be
created at every page. Apart from this, there will be type of
payment we accepted, third party logo for website security and some
links under three categories: Customer Care, Information and
Company at the bottom of our website to convey information to
customers. SEE APPENDIX F (pg 89) 54
55. 5.4 Chapter Summary In this chapter, class diagram was
transformed into database tables which were collected later to
produce database design. Well-structured database could be designed
with right keys, tables and attributes. Based on database design,
prototypes were created so that end-users can broaden their
knowledge of the proposed system. By this way, prototypes can
improve the involvement of endusers in project development. 55
56. Chapter 6. System Development 6.1 Introduction After the
design phase, timeboxing will be used for implementing the system
because it allows iteration, can control the track of time and can
deliver the required system within the predefined timeframe. Since
this project has to be completed within 6 months, timeboxing will
also be a great useful technique. According to "DSDM Consortium
Public Version 4.1[pdf]" available at
http://intra.iam.hva.nl/content/0708/propedeuse/ontwikkelmethoden_en_technieken//intro-enmateriaal/DSDM.pdf
[Accessed 21 April 2013], " Timeboxing is a process by which
defined objectives are reached at a pre-determined and immovable
date through continuous prioritisation and flexing of requirements
using the MoSCoW rules. " So, functional requirements prioritized
by MoSCoW will be timeboxed to deliver a complete system without
running out of control. 6.2 Changes All of the functions included
in requirement specification for this project cannot be developed
because of time constraints. So, I will implement the functions
that are put under three categories: Must, Should and Could, and
leave out the functions under Would for future development. They
will be developed in each timebox described below. Testing for each
timebox will be taken place at the end of each timebox and it will
be integrated throughout Dreamland project development. 56
57. 6.3 Timebox Schedule No Date Deliverable Timebox 1 25
December 2012 Implement Database 27 December 2012 Timebox 2 28
December 2012 Design Home page and frame inside pages 3 January
2013 Timebox 3 4 January 2013 Implement login/logout and customer
registration page 4 January 2013 Timebox 4 7 January 2013 Create
Entry pages for admin site 10 January 2013 Timebox 5 11 January
2013 Create Transaction pages for admin site 17 January 2013
Timebox 7 18 January 2013 Produce product catalogue, shopping cart,
delivery and 28 January 2013 Timebox 6 payment pages 29 January
2013 Add Review Section, Promotion and other static pages 5
February 2013 Timebox 8 6 February 2013 Create Report pages 7
February 2013 Timebox 1 This timebox is aimed to implement database
for Dreamland. So, class diagram and database design must be
reviewed first. Then, tables must be created first to store the
respective data. For each table, unique primary key will be defined
and foreign keys will also be linked. Finally, attributes are added
to their respective tables. Timebox 2 The main purpose of this
timebox is to design Home page and frame inside pages. So, I will
have to implement the template for Dreamland website by using HTML,
CSS and javascript. 57
58. Timebox 3 In this Timebox, login/logout and customer and
staff registration pages will be implemented. After completing this
timebox, customers and staff can login to the system and they will
have the permission to view their allowed pages. Timebox 4 The
major objective of Timebox 4 is to create Entry pages for admin
site. Entry pages such as category, subcategory, item, subitem,
review author, review, supplier, city, colour, size, brand,
promotion are covered in this timebox. After testing this timebox,
Dreamland staff can start migrating data. Timebox 5 The major
objective of Timebox 5 is to create Transaction pages for admin
site. Transaction pages such as supplier supplied item, purchase,
assign promotion item and recharge money to account must be
finished after this timebox. Timebox 6 In this Timebox, I will
implement product display pages, shopping cart, delivery and
payment. After completing this timebox, customers can browse the
product catalogue, add to the items they want to buy to the
shopping cart, enter delivery information, calculate delivery
charges and finally can make payment with their Dreamland account.
Timebox 7 In Timebox 7, Review Section, Promotion and other static
pages will have to be created. After completing and testing this
timebox, customers can read the reviews of product and other
discussions concerned with fashion trends. Moreover, they will be
able to comment and rate the reviews. Customers can also view the
promotion area and buy the products. Company Information pages such
as Privacy Policy, Terms and Conditions, Contact us and About us,
Help pages like FAQs and shopping guide will also be produced.
58
59. Timebox 8 For Timebox 8, report feature has to be added to
the system. Daily/Monthly Sales/Purchase Report, Stock Report, Best
seller report, delivery report, etc can be produced at the end of
this timebox. Testing of these 8 Timeboxes can be seen at APPENDIX
G (pg - 90) 6.4 Chapter Summary In this chapter, how proposed
system will be developed is explained in details. System
implementation will be carried out by using timeboxing and MoSCoW
techniques. System will be divided and put into 8 timeboxes which
can deliver workable parts at the end of each timebox. So, system
can be delivered to the end-users frequently and this can lead to
get more customer's satisfaction and can meet business requirements
more. 59
60. Chapter 7. Evaluation 7.1 Overview Summary I wanted to
implement a complete ecommerce website since I was a first year
student. Successful completion of this project makes me feel like I
am on cloud nine because I could turn my dream into reality. Before
developing the project, I thought that I could implement complex
ecommerce website and took into many features and functions into my
website. But, I had to leave out some features and functions
because of tight time-constraint and my weakness in skill and
experience of developing website. So, I implemented 'Must',
'Should' and 'Could' functions prioritized by using MoSCoW
technique. In this chapter, I want to discuss mainly focus on four
parts. They are (1) Review on implemented database design, (2)
Review on front-end portion (customer site) of Dreamland website,
(3) Review on back-end portion (admin site) of Dreamland website,
(4) Review on Development Process and (5) Personal Evaluation or
Lessons learnt from Dreamland project. 7.2 Project Evaluation 7.2.1
Review on implemented database design At first, I took too many
tables into my database design. For example, when there is one to
one relationship, I can combine two tables into one. But, I did not
know this. After discussing with my supervisor, I realize that I
can combine them. For example, subtitem table and stock table has
one to one relationship and only quantity and subitem ID are stored
in stock table. But, I added quantity attribute into subitem table
and made these two tables into one. Likewise, customer and staff
tables can be combined into only one table by giving the name 'user
table' because they two have the same behaviours and both of them
have many common attributes. But, I separate them for the sake of
developer so that developer can easily implement code. Physically,
there may be two tables. But, logically, there is only one table.
60
61. Another mistake I made during designing database can be
seen as follow: Figure 13 My wrong assumption for putting foreign
key Foreign key of customer is placed in both delivery table and
sale table. Actually, it is ok even if we put foreign key of
customer only in sale table because foreign key of sale table will
be in delivery table. So, after discussing with my supervisor, I
can correct this mistake like this. Figure 14 Correct mistake after
discussing with supervisor So, I could fix all of these problems
emerged from my wrong assumptions and made my database design
better after discussing with my project supervisor. 61
62. 7.2.2 Review on front-end portion (customer site) of
Dreamland website It will be better if I use more animated product
catalogue than the static one to attract the customers more. But,
file size to upload to UOG's server is limited. So, I used static
catalogue. In my website, there are many useful features such as
view purchase history, add to wish list, etc and I hope that they
can acquire more customers' satisfaction. Customers can give
comments on the products and reviews about their opinions. I
implemented to let both register customers and anonymous users
comment on them. However, if a person who wants to give comment is
anonymous person, this person will have to give his/her name, email
address. We can get more customers and can create the active
discussions between customers because of this feature. Customers
can also rate the products and reviews. I defined the range of
rating as follows: below 5 clicks (1 star), between 5-10 (2 stars),
between 10-15(3 stars), between 15-20(4 stars) and above 20 (5
stars). I did not define too much value to define range of rating
because my project will be just a demonstration. But, what I see is
more value is defined for range of rating in real world project. In
other website, I observed that its related products are displayed
while viewing a product's details. But, there is no feature like
this in my website. So, I should consider this kind of feature for
next coming projects. 62
63. 7.2.3 Review on back-end portion (admin site) of Dreamland
website One of the strengths of my project is that it has six
different roles for staff of Dreamland. According to the roles,
authority and permission may not be same. I want to describe them
from highest level to lowest. They are (1) Administrator (who has
the permission to access all data), (2) Manager (who have access to
all data except administering the staff information), (3) Purchase
(who has access to product data entry, supplier data and purchase
processes), Delivery (who has access to delivery information),
Operation (who has access to review author entry, review entry and
feedback which includes complaints and enquires), and Branch Staff
(who has access to view customer information and recharge money). I
follow the consistency rule and implemented all web forms in same
look and format. For example, after clicking on 'Supplier' link
under 'Entry' menu, there will be 'Add New' button to add new
supplier. Existing supplier can be searched with different criteria
to edit data. While clicking on the search result in table format,
it will navigate to the edit form. Other entry of data is also
based on this format. So, it is easy to learn for end-users. In
addition to this, I implemented subitem code to generate
automatically after prefix of item code has been defined. This
makes the subitem code unique and reduces human input error. There
is also one weakness I found for backend. When I record a new item,
I must first record subcategory if this subcategory is not in the
database. Sometimes, I am at new item entry page and fill all
information of new one. Then, I realized that its subcategory is
new and is not in the database. This makes me have to go back to
subcategory page and make the entry leading to inconvenience. For
desktop application, it is easy to put new button to call
subcategory form and then send back to item form after saving new
subcategory information. But, for website, I found difficulty to
handle this. So, I leave out this feature. Actually, delivery is
also important for ecommerce website. For this process, staff of
delivery department will have to draw delivery schedule to deliver
the products. But, the system does not support the functionality to
produce the delivery route and rota. So, staff will have to arrange
it manually. Likewise, I also left out the functionality to produce
some types of report such as loss and benefits report because of
time-constraint. 63
64. 7.2.4 Review on Development Processes The primary principal
of DSDM is active user involvement and staff of Dreamland are also
very enthusiastic to participate throughout development life cycle.
So, development processes with DSDM seem to be productive for
Dreamland project. Moreover, since I am not a professional system
analyst, I cannot capture all the user requirements by only one
time. Since DSDM has iterative in nature, it can fit my needs. JAD
workshops also assisted me in making development processes more
efficient because I could collect the user requirements easily.
Similarly, I could motivate the participation of users with the
help of prototyping. As a result, end-users could understand their
requirements more and this improved the development processes.
MoSCoW and Timeboxing also added value to development processes.
Without applying them in this project, the most essential features
and functions could not be delivered within 6 month period.
Workable parts can be delivered incrementally and separately
because of them. 7.3 Personal Evaluation or Lessons learnt from
Dreamland project Although all of the functions defined in my
requirement specification could not be implemented in Dreamland
website, I am a bit quite happy because I could produce a workable
website with standard features. I become more familiar with project
management methodology, tools, techniques, concept of ecommerce and
importance of literature review. Moreover, I become realize that a
project cannot be successful by using only methodology and forget
about other important factors such as time, scope and budget. This
is learnt from my project. During developing this project, I fall
ill and my project was behind schedule and I also cannot meet with
my supervisor regularly. This affects the scope of project leading
to degradation in quality. So, I have also learnt that
time-management skill is a key to delivering a successful project
under tight time-constraint. This also points out my weakness in
managing time and I must manage time with great care for next
coming projects. Another problem I faced with during developing
Dreamland project is lack of professional technical skills. Since
it is my first use of PHP to develop ecommerce website, I found
some big 64
65. problems while implementing PHP code. But, I also thank
this problem because I could improve my self-study skills of
learning online. At first, I put all of my effort to learn PHP and
ignore other things. But, I gradually learnt that research is more
important than coding after discussing with my supervisor. This is
because I found many mistakes and weaknesses in my design,
assumptions and other things because I did not make enough research
for project requirements. So, I started to read ebooks and browse
internet to make my literature review close to perfect. By this
way, I could make my research skill improved than before. The most
important lesson I have learnt from this project is that
communication skill is crucial for every information system
development. I had to deal with staff of Dreamland to collect the
user requirements of different level. I may capture the technical
functionalities of the proposed system. However, the proposed
system can fail sooner or later if soft factors of people cannot be
identified. So, I learnt how to communicate with people and this
made improved my soft skills too. To summarize, I put my utmost
effort to be able to deliver a complete and workable project. There
are some weaknesses in my project and I left out some functions for
future development. However, I am satisfied with what I have done
because I could turn my dream of implementing ecommerce website
into reality. 65
66. Chapter 8. Conclusion To conclude, I become realize that
developing ecommerce websites and selling products online gradually
become popular because of having many advantages. Dreamland Fashion
Company also gains many benefits from developing this project. The
most tangible benefit is reduction in costs of hiring physical
storefronts and costs for staff. Moreover, company can also create
new sales channel which can be opened 24/7/365 and which can
increase speed for time-to-market. Developing this project can also
bring about improved customer relationship and service. Company can
also promote its marketing by using new online marketing methods
such as email marketing and eCRM. Since it becomes a computerized
system, human errors such as data inconsistency can be reduced.
Since reports can be produced easily and quickly, it is convenient
for management level. This project can also create value for
customers. For example, (1) information availability value, i.e,
customers can find the information of products easily and (2)
ubiquity value, i.e, customers can shop around the website at any
time from any place. In addition, they can compare the products
easily and choose the right one. Although this project can give
many benefits for both company and customers, limitations of
ecommerce should not be ignored. For example, customers' concerns
for privacy information and website security deter the customers
from purchasing online. So, Dreamland solved it by partnering with
Verisign which provides security service. All in all, many aspects
which take the main role of ecommerce as well as which are the
survival of ecommerce are covered in this project report. So, I
hope that this project report can give a big hand to other
ecommerce organizations and students who want to broaden their
knowledge in the field of business and IT. 66
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