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Tuesday, 9 August 2016

Web Advertising Assignment Case Study

The following display is a commercial website advertising the product, Pine-Sol, a brand of detergent. Following are the main features of the webpage:

1. Each block of text or images enclosed in frames, with rounded corners, are clickable. That is, if users click on these specific frames, a new tab will open within the web browser to display a page of information.
2. Note that there are no horizontal and vertical scroll bars. These have been disabled by the developers. The intent is to provide a ‘click-free’ (i.e. users do not need to click the mouse button) scrolling experience. To enable the page to scroll towards an intended direction, users will need to hover their mouse pointer over one of the four arrowheads to indicate the desired direction. The four arrowheads are visible on each of the four edges of the webpage.
3. Once the webpage is set scrolling in any of the desired direction, it will not stop until the mouse pointer is moved towards and hovered over the centre of the webpage.
4. The following view shown in the figure below depicts only 10% of the total coverage of the webpage. To view the complete layout of the webpage, a user will need to scroll four or five screens horizontally and one two screens vertically.
5. The function to zoom-in or zoom-out for each page of this website have been disabled by the developers.

Questions

Attempt to address and answer the following questions in relation to the above website. Your answers should adhere to principles of responsive web design. Try to avoid providing answers that are based on your personal opinion. Your answers must be supported by scholarly findings, that is, you will need to support your assertions with references to scholarly publications. Do not reference your answers from the Wikipedia. This is an essay based assessment. Please do not provide any program script or source code with your answers.
A. The Pine-Sol website, designed mainly for the desktop computer, have been designed to be manipulated using a pointing device, such as a mouse. In HTML5 and CSS3, this allows the pointer to hover over a specific element. This allows the element to be highlighted without trigerring or activating it. However, hovering is an interaction style used mainly for pointing devices. It does not work well on mobile devices that does not use a pointing device (e.g. an e-pen). If this web page have been rendered on a mobile device, that does not use a pointing device, what should be the most optimal alternative to this interaction style? Describe and propose an alternative method of interaction with the website.
(10 Marks)
3
B. Identify two appropriate techniques to evaluate the usability of the Pine-Sol website. Elaborate on each of the techniques with relevance to the the website described above.
(10 Marks)
C. What improvements can be made to the Pine-Sol website? Provide a reason or reasons to support your suggestion.
(10 Marks)
D. Based on your suggestions in C, illustrate an improved version of the Pine-Sol website. Use as many illustration that is necessary. You do not need to deveop a program or website. Present your new design as a paper based prototype. Annotate and comment on your design.
(10 Marks)

Sunday, 7 August 2016

Individual Web Development Assignment Case Study

Aim

Allow students to apply their knowledge on HTML, CSS and Java script to design and develop websites.
Introduction
The assignment consists of three deliverables.  They are (i) website (ii) design report and (iii) a presentation. The assignment should be done individually. And all the deliverables (i.e., complete website, design report and presentation slides) should be submitted via Moodle. Further, use copyright free images or images in the public domain or images that you have the right to use. 

Task 1 – Website Development

You are required to develop a website for Victorian Institute of Technology. The website should contain minimum four webpages. Consider appropriate content for each page; what information would be of interest to a typical user.
Create a home page, using all the techniques learned so far using HTML and CSS and java Script that represents that state of being. You are strongly encouraged to consider an appropriate navigation scheme, colors, positioning of images etc.,
The site that you design should contain followings.
·         Create an appropriate logo for VIT
·         Decide what the most important navigation text should be.
·         Decide what information should be readily available on the home page.
·         Use multiple images.
·         Have an appropriate title for each page.
·         Make appropriate choices for background color/image.
·         Link to the home page other pages
·         Add your copyright at the bottom of the every page
 Read about Dot Net Programming.

Task 2 – Design Report

This document should describe the design reasoning for the website. A design document is simply a comprehensive plan for developing your website. The design document should consist of following components. All the figures and tables in the report are numbered and labelled.
·         Cover page (A sample cover page is given at the end of this document)
·         Introduction
o   overview of your website design
o   Motivation

·         Website Design
o   Audience
o   Functions and the nature of the institute
o   Special approaches you used and why?
o   Flow charts, activity diagrams, any other design figures or tables

·         Screen shots of the designed website
·         Suggestions to improve existing website
·         Conclusion
·         References

Task 3 – Presentation

The student should present their work individually. Each student will be given 15 minutes to present the work followed by 5 minutes question and answer time. Students should use power point slides and your presentation should be limited to 15 minutes (No extra time given).

The presentations will be scheduled in the end of the semester just after the final week of the lectures. 

Thursday, 4 August 2016

Microbloging Site Development Case Study

Coursework: Developing a user centered microblogging site from twitter feeds

This is an individual piece of coursework

1 GENERAL OVERVIEW

The popularity of “Microblogging” is on the rise for quite some time among online users. Users on a microblogging site may share their personal updates, thoughts, opinions, and even world news. The power and impact of microblogging cannot be overlooked in today’s world. A number of organizations are already using microblogging as a cost-effective way of communicating with customers, building online communities, product release information, updates, etc. Twitter (http://www.twitter.com) is one such microblogging form that has a massive following (approximately a billion registered users). It allows registered users to post short messages (up to 140 characters) called tweets and reply to or even retweet other users’ tweets. One of Twitter’s key strengths is the number of third party applications that enable users to interact with the twitter service from a wide range platforms or services.

For this coursework, you will be required to design and develop a website based on the users’ twitter account feeds, and show what time of the day the user is most active. All the users registered to your website must possess a valid twitter handle from which his/her feeds will be retrieved – both his/her own tweets and the tweets of other users that he/she might be following. Based on the time of the user’s own tweet or his/her followed one’s tweet, you need to categorize them whether they are morning/noon/afternoon/evening/night persons (based on the time of their tweets). You are free to define your own categories (morning, noon, etc.), and what time of the day adheres to which category. Secondly, a particular user’s daily demographic activity should also be shown (based on the time of his/her tweets) from which one can have an idea when the user is most active in social networks. The motivation behind such design and implementation is to collage all the relevant information about a user’s activity demography in a meaningful and user friendly way.

2 TASK 1: ANALYSIS AND DESIGN

The web application is expected to be developed in user-centered design approach. The design process needs to be documented through appropriate design artefacts (e.g. Information Architecture, Personas, Task Analysis, Storyboarding, Prototypes, Evaluation) that show how the design has been conceived and which steps were taken to implement a user-centered design process. The student is expected to consider contemporary issues (e.g., responsive design, accessibility) in designing the web applications. He/she should also provide a clear rationale for his/her design decisions based on user research and best practices of user centered design. Furthermore, clear evidence and documentation should be shown that a user centered design process has been followed, and an analysis of the information design for the user interface has been carried out.

3 TASK 2: INTERFACE IMPLEMENTATION

You are required to develop a user friendly web interface (to be run on current web browsers). You should make use of appropriate HTML and CSS coding techniques to achieve this. Use of templates and frameworks such as Bootstrap is encouraged but it must be referenced in the code and report. Be aware that marks can only be awarded for modifications to templates and frameworks, so please make sure you properly distinguish your own work/modifications in the report.
You must make sure that both interfaces meet usability and accessibility criteria and conform to design guidelines and theory. You also need to consider how the user will navigate between pages (if required). All of this must be documented in the report.

4 TASK 3: SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION

The system must be hosted on the University of Greenwich IIS server (your CMS I: drive) or a similar collaborative college system.   All sources of code must be fully referenced.  Do not implement anything that you do not understand as you may have to explain all your code to a tutor at a demonstration.
You are required to develop a prototype system in PHP and MySQL database with the following functionalities: ( Read Database Design Concept here)
1. Every user registered into your system should possess a valid twitter handle. You should also create a twitter handle yourself before registering to your own system. The registered user is encouraged to follow other users so that relevant tweets can be retrieved from his/her account.
2. You should have a registration system in place for your system. You can assume that the twitter handle provided by the user during registration is valid – no error checking is required. Once registered, a user should be able to edit his/her own profile that contains a short biography, contact details, picture, etc.
3. You should start your system with some defined categories of the time of the day (e.g., morning, noon, etc.). You may (not a must) also provide provisions for updating these categories of your system.
4. Any user can create an account and can immediately start using your system.
5. A simple algorithm to categories the retrieved tweets under the various categories for showing meaningfully in the website. For example, a user may have twitted 70% of the time in the morning, thereby; you may want to categories him/her as a morning person. Furthermore, your system should be able to show a particular user’s activity demography (e.g., 70% active in the morning, 30% at night, etc.).

5 TASK 4: REPORT

You are required to present a formal report, which must be uploaded by the due date.  The report is the basis for the marking and credit can only be given for work that is presented in the report. The report should not simply be a collection of screenshots, you must explain your design and development decisions and provide evidence to back them up either from the literature or your own studies. The report should include the following:

Table of Contents.
The URL of the prototype web site.
The key issues and findings of the report divided into Tasks 1, 2 and 3.
A section containing the evaluation and testing of the site.

The report should include code snippets (not the full code) and screen images. A ZIP of the code should also be uploaded along with the PDF of the report.

6 ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

Assessment 1: Analysis and Design 40%
Marks will be awarded for documentation of the 2 stages and understanding of tools/techniques chosen. Especially, whether contemporary issues (e.g., responsive design, accessibility) of designing and testing web applications have been considered, and evidence that an analysis of the information design for the user interface has been carried out. They should also provide clear rationale of their design designs, and evidence of whether user centred design process has been followed. 

Assessment 2: Interface Implementation 15%
Marks will be awarded for Usability and Accessibility as well as their written (if any)/modification to the generated HTML/CSS code for both versions.

Assessment 3: System Implementation 25%
Marks will be awarded for functional front-end (running on web browsers) and back-end Database design, and completeness of the delivered prototype.

Assessment 4: Report Structure and Completeness 20%
Marks will be awarded for general presentation, and documentation of Assessments 1- 3.
_____________________________________________________________________
Total            100%

Tuesday, 2 August 2016

Willowbrook School System Design Case Study Assignment

Willowbrook School is a small private school that has retained your services as a systems
analyst to assist in the development of a new information system for the school’s administrative needs.

System Design Part A (20%)

The Willowbrook School staff accepted your interface, output, input, and data designs. Now
you will determine the system architecture according to system development user manual, which translates the logical design of an
information system into a physical blueprint.

Tasks 1:

Design a system architecture for Willowbrook School based on file server or client/server
architecture? Discuss advantages and disadvantages that should be considered when making this decision within the context of Willowbrook School. Speak to the cost-benefit issues of file server and client/server designs.

Tasks 2:

Based on your chosen architecture from task 1, what physical and logical network topology
would you recommend for Willowbrook School?

Tasks 3:

Now that you have developed a systems architecture and physical topology for the network,
make a list of the hardware that will be required for Willowbrook. Review the background
information in previous chapters to develop your list.

Tasks 4:

Write a system design specification document for Willowbrook’s new information system.

System Design Part B (25%)

The systems design has been completed and design specifications approved. You are now
beginning the implementation phase of the SDLC, which includes application development,
installation, and evaluation. One of the parents at Willowbrook has extensive experience with the database package as a Database Administrator at a local company, and has committed to providing 15 hours per week working with you to develop and test the project. You should assume that the server, switch, and workstations discussed in Part A have been purchased, installed, and networked.

Tasks 5:

Choose an application development methodology for the Willowbrook system. Discuss the
advantages and disadvantages of structured, object oriented, and agile development.

Task 6:

What types of testing should be performed? What types of test data should be used?

Task 7:

Identify the specific groups of people who need training on the new system. For each group,
describe the type of training you would recommend and list the topics you would cover.

Task 8:

Develop a plan for data conversion and system changeover that specifies which data items must be entered, the order in which the data should be entered, and which data items are the most time critical. Discuss what method should be used for system changeover.

Task 9:

Presentation (cover sheet, clarity, and professionalism).

Monday, 1 August 2016

Security in Computing and Information Technology Case Study

RMIT Computer Science

1Aims

• To illustrate a practical aspect of security, such as vulnerabilities, threats and attack techniques, familiarise students with some basic security infrastructure, such as software vulnerability and virus databases.
• To get some hands-on experience with encryption

Part 1

Vulnerabilities and Malware

Background

Your company is re-evaluating its operations. It uses a very large number of applications running on different computers. You are given the task of providing information about vulnerabilities in applications so that IT management can consider which applications should be disabled, disconnected from the network or restricted to special workstations in order to reduce the possibility of attacks.
Your manager thinks the company relies on outdated protection and wants an update on recent malware, and also asks you to recommend a new antivirus program for the Windows desktop machines. You need to support your proposal with facts and arguments.

Tasks

Task 1.1 (20 marks)

Using your skills learnt in lab 2, select a recent (not older than two months) vulnerability from the National Vulnerability Database and analyse it from the following aspects:
i. Criticality level (Check Secunia, Screenshot Accepted)
ii. Impact including CVSS Score. (Screenshot Accepted)
iii. Explain the purpose of using CVSS scores. (Two valid bullet points expected.)
iv. Proposed Solution (Screenshot Accepted)
v. Which of the Australian DSD '35 Strategies can be applied to mitigate the vulnerability. Include valid explanations for your answer. (At least two if possible, one will suffice only in rare cases.)
Ensure that you also provide a detailed description of the vulnerability.

Task 1.2 (20 marks)

Search a number of antivirus companies’ (e.g. Symantec, McAfee, Kaspersky, F-Secure, AVG, Bit Defender, Webroot, ESET, G-Data, Avira) websites. Find at least four sites that publish malware listings, and compare the latest malware lists.
i. List the four sites.
ii. Discuss how descriptive and informative are the sites.
iii. Discuss the time difference between the listings.

Hint: Take a subset of malware listings and compare the time difference. This information should be presented in a tabular grid and a small paragraph at the end that summarizes your findings. (Here you select specific malware issues and check the different sites to see when they are listed.)
iv. Which site is the most up-to-date and why?
Hint: Over a two week period compare the malware listings that are reported. Statistically analyse the data set, possibly by giving the malware a weight based on the criticality and the date/time of the listing. This information should be presented in a tabular grid and a small paragraph at the end that summarises which site is the most up-to-date. Data in your grid should serve as proof of your

statement. (This date is different from the previous question as here you select a specific time period instead of looking exclusively for specific malware.)

Task 1.3 (15 marks)

Select a recent vulnerability from an antivirus company’s database, and analyse it from the same aspects as in task 1.1. (Note: No need to explain the purpose of using CVSS scores again.)
Select three recent, different threats from an antivirus company’s database. Describe for each
i. How it spreads (attack strategy)
ii. The target of malicious activity (information, resource etc)
iii. The way of hiding inside the victim’s computer.

Guidelines

The report should be concise, normally not longer than 900 words (excluding pictures). You must start each answer on a new page. Please use the template specified at http://goanna.cs.rmit.edu.au/~pbertok/SIC/Assign/SICReportTemplate.docx
To support your arguments
• Provide screen-dumps for each question (Maximum four screen dumps per question; each screen dump must be large enough to read the text). Feel free to format the page to accommodate larger screenshots.
• Provide references (URLs) when you use information from different sources.

Part 2
Symmetric and asymmetric ciphers

In this part you will practice encrypting and digitally signing documents.

Tasks


Task 2.1 (5 marks)
You are to encrypt your last name using a Caesar cipher, the key for the cipher will be the sum of all the digits of your student number modulo 10. (Modulo 10 means dividing the sum by 10 and taking the remainder as the result.)
NOTE: If your name is hyphenated, just leave out the hyphen.
Example: If my student number is s3333371, I would do (3+3+3+3+3+7+1) % 10 which equals 3 (this is the key I will use for the shift).
You must save the resulting ciphertext in a file called XXXXXXX_task_21.txt (where XXXXXXX is your student number without the “s”) and include it in your submission. No additional text must be included in the file and the cipher should be written in lowercase. There is no need to include the key, since it is derived from the student number; we will compute it automatically when marking.

Task 2.2 (10 marks)
You are to take a SHA256 hash of your student number (without the “s”).
Example: If my student number is s3333371, the hash (minus the “s”) is 71104d3dce566643dbca7cc0fbcf9949ac053912e125031a666e9eae19b09c19
NOTE: Make sure you include only the student number and nothing else in the hash calculations (e.g. exclude the newline/end of line character).
You must then encrypt this hash using the RSA algorithm with the following public key http://titan.csit.rmit.edu.au/~e09962/sicpub.key
Hint: We recommend looking at openssl which is installed on all the RMIT Linux servers. Alternatively, you can search for some online tools, and use those.
You must save the plaintext (i.e. the hash) and resulting ciphertext in a file called XXXXXXX_task_22.txt (where XXXXXXX is your student number without the “s”) and include it in your submission. The first line in the file is the plaintext (the hash), and the second line is the ciphertext (the encrypted hash). No additional text must be included in the file. There is no need (or point) in including the public key, as we hold the corresponding private key.

Task 2.3 (15 marks)

You must generate an RSA public/private keypair.
You must then take the same SHA256 hash from task 2.2, but now instead of encrypting it with our public key, you must create a digital signature by encrypting the hash with your RSA private key.
Hint: We recommend looking at openssl which is installed on all the RMIT Linux servers. Alternatively, you can search for some online tools, and use those.
You must save the resulting ciphertext in a file called XXXXXXX_task_23.txt (where XXXXXXX is your student number without the “s”) and include it in your submission. No additional text must be included in the file. You must also submit your user generated public and private key files; name them XXXXXXXpub.key and XXXXXXXpri.key respectively (where XXXXXXX is your student number without the “s”). Read about Programming in Java Assignment.

Part 3Transposition ciphers

A transposition cipher writes the text in rows and reads them back in columns. It is also common to do it the other way around: writing columns and reading rows. A single columnar transposition cipher improves the security of basic transposition by reordering the columns before reading out the ciphertext.
In this part you have to crack the encryption and recover the plaintext. The basic cracking approach is to recover the size of the transformation matrix, i.e. identifying rows and columns, and rearranging them so that the deciphered text makes sense.

Tasks

Later next week, via email you will receive the following two ciphertexts encrypted with a columnar transposition cipher:
• StudentId_task31_Cipher.txt and
• StudentId_task32_Cipher.txt

Each cipher can be up to 64 characters long. If the ciphertext is less than 64 characters, then it is padded with different letters to the nearest divisible. Your task is to apply columnar transposition to decipher.

Task 3.1 (5 marks)
To keep it simple in this task, only two columns have been swapped in the ciphertext. Your task is to decipher and get the plaintext.

Task 3.2 (10 marks)
The ciphertext in this task was produced by a transposition cipher, and the columns in the ciphertext have been mixed up. (This is the actual way how a single columnar transposition cipher works, the method in task 3.1 is quite basic.) Your task is to recover the plaintext.
You are required to submit the following decipher files along with a readme to briefly explain your approach to decipher

Friday, 29 July 2016

UKCBC Web Design Assignment Case Study

1. Introduction


The internet is perhaps the most important IT development of the last few decades. It provides new ways to communicate and share information. It has also revolutionised the way people and businesses use IT. 

Businesses can now take part in a global marketplace, widening their scope for potential customers, all from a local base and with relatively low start-up costs. The need for good web designers and developers continues to grow as more and more companies realise they must develop a web presence and keep it maintained and updated. As web technologies develop there is an increasing need for websites to be interactive. This allows two-way communication between the user and the website. 

The number of websites on the World Wide Web has increased dramatically and competition is very fierce. This means that designers must employ increasingly sophisticated techniques to capture interest, as well as ensuring that an appropriate company image is presented. Usability issues, such as navigation methods, must be considered carefully. A poorly-designed structure could result in users becoming confused or frustrated and navigating away from the website. 

Learners will be.g.in this unit by evaluating existing websites, in the context of cross-platforms, range of browsers, and design features. Designing websites, which are accessible to all types of users, is a fundamental aspect of any website design. 

This unit also considers the whole process from identification of need, design, implementation, testing, maintenance and review. It is important that learners do not just develop skills in specific techniques but are also able to select when and where they are most appropriate, basing this decision on client and user needs. As with any field of IT, a comprehensive understanding of the relevant legislation and guidelines is always fundamental.     

1.1. Aim

To enable learners to understand the concepts of website design and apply their own creativity in designing and developing interactive websites.
1.2. Objectives

On successful completion of this unit a learner will:

1. Understand website design concepts 
2. Be able to design interactive websites

3. Be able to implement interactive websites 

4. Be able to test interactive websites 

2.0. Unit / Module Content

1 Understand website design concepts

Users: types e.g. expert, regular, occasional, novice, special needs; requirements e.g. psychological, cultural, social and environmental, health and safety, education and work  
Site analysis: purpose e.g. communication, real-time information, commercial, government, education, business, entertainment, downloading/uploading, web storage; fit for purpose e.g. meets organisational and site objectives; planning e.g. storyboarding, structure, hypermedia linkage, search engine key words, graphical design, user interface, audio/video sources, animation, text design; maintenance e.g. plans, logs, disaster recovery, testing

Accessibility: features e.g. alternative text, resizable fonts, support for screen readers, adjustable fonts; current standards and legislation e.g. Disability Discrimination Act, Data Protection Act, e-Commerce Regulations Act, Computer Misuse Act, W3C validation, copyright and intellectual property rights  

Design: rules and heuristics for good website design; accessibility; functionality e.g. timings, navigation, ease of use, user-friendliness; evaluation tools e.g. W3C Mark-up  
Validation Service Environment: features e.g. Uniform Resource Locators (URL), 
Hypertext Mark-up Language (HTML), Dynamic Hypertext Mark-up Language (DHTML), Extensible Mark-up Language (XML), Java Programming, JavaScript, Java Applets, plug-ins, client and server-side scripting languages; multimedia e.g. animation, sound/visual effects; hardware and software requirements e.g. computer platforms, operating systems, application software; browser behaviour e.g. execute scripting languages, display Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), applets, Common Gateway Interface (CGI)  

2 Be able to design interactive websites  

Identification of need: nature of interactivity e.g. online transactions, static versus dynamic; client needs and user needs e.g. image, level of security, development timescales, maintenance contracts, costs, search engine visibility; end user need e.g. appropriateness of graphics, complexity of site, delivery of content 

Design tools: concept designs e.g. mood boards, story boards; layout techniques e.g. frames, tables, block level containers, inline containers; templates; colour schemes; screen designs  

3 Be able to implement interactive websites  

Structure: layout of pages; navigation; format of content; Cascading Style Sheets (CSS); page elements, e.g. headings, rules, frames, buttons, text and list boxes, hyperlinks/anchors, graphical images, clickable images/maps; interactive features e.g. product catalogue, shopping cart; images and animation Content: correct and appropriate; reliability of information source; structured for purpose e.g. prose, bullets, tables Development: mark-up languages e.g. (HTML), (XHTML), (DHTML); client side scripting languages e.g. JavaScript, Visual Basic (VB) script; features and advantages of software languages; web authoring software tools Tools and techniques: navigation diagram e.g. linear, hierarchy or matrix; building interactivity tools e.g. pseudo-code for client-server scripting; adding animation and audio/visual elements; ensuring compliance with W3C; meta-tagging; cascading style sheets  

4 Be able to test interactive websites  

Review: functionality testing (user environments, links and navigation); content; check user requirements; user acceptance; audit trail of changes Mechanisms: types e.g. browser compatibility testing, platform testing, script-language testing; valid (HTML) code; checking functionality against requirements, check internal and external hyperlinks (web files, web documents, images), error detection, error messages, dry running Supportive documentation: test plan; test results; programmer guidance; user guidance: onscreen help 

TASK 1 to TASK 4:

You are required to follow the instructions as specified towards each task and support with research by using supportive materials like books, websites, etc., and give feedback on the findings by relating your arguments to the relevant case study as specified towards each task. Your report should fully follow the Harvard Referencing model. 

TASK 1:  

LO1 Understand website design concepts 

The objective for this task is to address and exhibit an understanding on website design concepts. You are required to address the task as specified and research by using supportive materials like books, Journals, websites, etc. to address the learning outcomes as specified.  Please note that the research and subjective skill needs to exhibit transferable skill by reflecting it to the case study. Answers reflected without reflective practice will be referred. [Read about ASP DOT NET Programming Assignment]

P1.1- You need to understand various design concepts to choose and use an appropriate Website design for Shiny Kitchen Worktops Ltd. Discuss the design concepts that have to be considered when designing a website for Shiny Kitchen Worktops Ltd (AC 1.1).

TASK 2:  

LO2 Be able to design interactive websites 
You are required to carry out a research, by using supportive materials like books, websites, etc., in addition to using the case study and give a feedback for the findings on P2.1 and P2.2. The answers need to be reflected to the Shiny Kitchen Worktops Ltd. case study chosen for the purpose. Answers without application to the chosen case study   will be marked as resubmission


P2.1. For the case study given above consider User requirements, target audience, content of the website and so on and design a design an interactive website to meet the requirements of Shiny Kitchen Worktops Ltd. (AC 2.1).

P2.2 Evaluate your website design with other users for Effectiveness, Efficiency, Reliability, and Compliance (AC 2.2).


TASK 3:  
LO3. Be able to implement interactive websites 

You are required to carry out a research, implement a website for the given scenario and exhibit an understanding to be able to implement the project within agreed procedures and to specification. The purpose of any design is to function as a blue print and aid in the implementation. Hence this task is about effectively and accurately implementing your design and creating a functional website which meets all pre-defined requirements 

3.1 Implement your website design effectively and create a fully-functional interactive website for Shiny Kitchen Worktops Ltd. that meets the given requirements and your design (AC 3.1).  

TASK 4:   

LO4 Be able to test interactive websites 

You are required to carry out a practical research work and submit a report. Following implementation of your web site for Shiny Kitchen Worktops Ltd., you now need to use a range of techniques to review and test it, suggesting further development as appropriate, including the provision of onscreen help for users and a support manual for future site managers and answer P4.1 through P4.5


4.1 Employ a range of testing methods across the whole website for functionality, navigation and so on and critically review it (AC 4.1).
4.2 The objective of testing is to find out the differences, if any, between ‘expected results’ and ‘actual results’. Conduct an analysis on the actual test results against expected results to identify and report any discrepancies (AC 4.2)
4.3 Evaluate independent feedback on the website and make recommendations in your report, for improvements (AC 4.3).
4.4 Create onscreen help to assist the users of Shiny Kitchen Worktops Ltd. (AC 4.4).
4.5 Create documentation for the support and maintenance of the website (AC 4.5).

On achieving the above PASS criteria you also have the opportunity to achieve higher grades [Merit / Distinction] as detailed below; 

Wednesday, 27 July 2016

Data Analysis and Design Case Study Assignment

TASK 1:  

You are required to carry out a research by using supportive materials like books, websites, etc., and give a feedback of the findings on P1.1, P1.2, and P1.3. The answers need to be reflected to the general Data Analysis and Design Concepts. Answers without application to an organization or without examples will be marked as Resubmission.
P1. Understand data models and database technologies
P1.1-  critically compare different data models such as network, hierarchy, RDBMS etc and schemas such as external, conceptual etc.
P1.2- critically discuss the benefits and limitations of different database technologies such ms access, sql server, oracle etc.
P1.3- analyse different approaches such as DFD, Use case, ELH, ER etc to database design

Case Study:

DATALYTICS is a leading data analytic and consulting firm. The company supports their clients across the globe to design and analyse big data to guide strategic decision markers. Due to the rapid expansion of their businesses, the company will be dealing with massive and disjointed data to enable them survive in the global market. Since information is keen to business growth and continuity, the company foresees that they are likely to be unable to systematically apply relevant statistical and logical procedures to describe, illustrate, correlate, evaluate and discover useful information from their massive data. As a result, the company has hired you as their main data analyst and unfortunately, your main responsibilities were not properly clarified. Nevertheless, you were fortunate to meet with the Director of Human Resources (DHR) of the company during your induction training. Accordingly, the DHR gave an overview of your duties to subsume the design, documentation, querying and implementation of a relational database system for the company within the available resources. You will also work with GIS Specialists and Software Engineers to provide support to the healthcare service providers and some other notable clients across Asia, Africa, USA, Australia and UK.

The database should contain at least ten related tables. In addition, when you create the database, you should be able to store different categories of data type such as varchar, float, text, integer and transaction’s date in its tables. For instance, you can create an Address table, Products table, county code’s table, Post code’s table, list of organizations, hospitals and list of therapies. The Address table for instance should be able to store several names, house numbers, street names, post codes, emails, and telephone numbers while the Products table should be able to store information such as different categories of products, unit price and location of each product.

An information pack given to you shows that for your appointment to be confirmed by the company, you should be able to complete the following business functions within the agreed time:
a) Design and develop information for strategic planning, operational and analytical purposes.
b) You will be required to examine, clean, transform and model data that facilitate the discovery of useful information and suggestions that will meet the requirements of strategic decision makers and regulatory bodies.
c) Use suitable platform to manipulate data, querying scripting and reporting standard to complement decision making process at the strategic level of the company. 
The document further states that you will need to constantly report to the management about the whole processes for you to secure the approval of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company.

TASK 2:  

You are required to carry out a research by using supportive materials like books, websites, etc., and give a feedback of the findings on P2.1, P2.2, and P2.3. The answers need to be reflected to the DATALYTICS on the case study. Answers without application to an organization or without examples will be marked as Resubmission.

P2. Be able to design and implement relational database systems.
P2.1- Using DFD, ELH, ER etc to design a relational database system to meet a given requirement of DATALYTICS database solution [class demonstration and observation].
P2.2- Build a relational database system i.e. database tables and table relationships based on a prepared design for DATALYTICS database solution [class demonstration and observation]. 
P2.3- Apply a range of database tools and techniques i.e. text box, combo box, list box, buttons, sub forms etc to enhance the user interface [class demonstration and observation].

TASK 3:  

You are required to carry out a research by using supportive materials like books, websites, etc., and give a feedback of the findings on P3.1, P3.2, and P3.3. The answers need to be reflected to the DATALYTICS on the case study. Answers without application to an organization or without examples will be marked as Resubmission.

P3. Be able to use manipulation and querying tools
P 3.1 – Explain the benefits of using manipulation and query tools in a relational database system
P3.2 – Implement a query language using SQL into the DATALYTICS relational database system [class demonstration and observation].
P3.3- Critically evaluate how meaningful data has been extracted i.e. present the query data through report through the use of query tools for DATALYTICS relational database system [class demonstration and observation].

TASK 4:  

You are required to carry out a research by using supportive materials like books, websites, etc., and give a feedback of the findings on P4.1, P4.2, P4.3, P4.4 and P4.5. The answers need to be reflected to the DATALYTICS on the case study. Answers without application to an organization or without examples will be marked as Resubmission.

P4 Be able to test and document relational database systems
P4.1- Critically review and test the DATALYTICS relational database system.
P4.2- Create documentation to support the implementation and testing of the DATALYTICS relational database system.
P4.3- Create user documentation for a developed DATALYTICS relational database system.
P4.4- Explain how verification and validation has been Addressed in DATALYTICS relational database system.
P4.5- Explain how control mechanisms have been used to develop DATALYTICS relational database system

Assignment Guidelines:

Use a standard report structure, Word-process the report and use Normal script of a proper font size 12.
Produce an academic report, detailing the above issues with a word limit of 4000 to 4500 words. 
Complete the title page and sign the statement of authenticity.
The Assignment sheet should be attached in the front.
Submit the document in a folder in the form of a file as well as a soft copy on the submission date. 
It should be uploaded on E-Learning platform before the deadline and submitted to -------- and sign the submission form of the college.
Assignments submitted after the deadline will not be accepted unless mitigating and may be entitled for a late fee. 
Collusion and Plagiarism must be avoided.
Start each answer on a new page and pages should be numbered. Highlight each question clearly.
Include a Bibliography at the end of the assignment and use the Harvard referencing system.   
All work should be comprehensively referenced and all sources must be fully acknowledged, such as books and journals, websites (include the date of visit), etc. 
Try to give the page numbers, publishers' details and the year of publication
In order to pass you need to address all the LO and Assessment Criterias. 
In order to get a merit you need to address the characteristics of pass and address M1, M2,M3  
In order to get a Distinction you need to address the characteristics of pass and merit and Use a common format for the questions, for example:
Introduction (analyze the question.)
Underpinning Knowledge (write about the relevant theory/points)
Applied knowledge(Data Analysis)
Conclusions and Recommendations (summarizing the whole scenario keeping in view pass, merit, distinction criteria.)