Project Design Proposal for Online Shopping †Free Samples

Question: Discuss about the Project Design Proposal Online Shopping. Answer: Overview Business modules have had to change over the past few years in order to meet the demands of the digital age. Unlike before, modern customers require efficient services that provide real-time response and collaboration. This outcome among many others necessitates the proposed project, where traditional business modules will be combined with e-commerce to offer online shopping (Usability, 2017). This project aims to enhance the customer experience by incorporating real-time systems with everyday shopping. In essence, this short report will highlight a realistic approach to designing an interactive and collaborative user interface. Furthermore, this report will outline the designs associated elements i.e. usability, design model, targets and evaluation tactics. Scope A general online system was suggested for this project, where, the interface designed would be used to sell a wide range of merchandise. Therefore, a general and overall approach will be used to outline the system design. Basically, the design and report will cover the development of user interfaces as well as the related parameters i.e. database systems and security protocols. However, the logistics of delivering the sold products will not be covered. Moreover, the design should meet the current and future demands of business including system variations. Objectives, Outputs and Targets E-commerce has substantially lowered the resource requirements needed to start and run a business. Moreover, it has enhanced customer experience because of the efficiency and conveniences it offers. Therefore, the overall goal/objective of this design is to capitalise on the efficiencies offered by online shopping through enhanced customer experience (Usability partner, 2017). Moreover, the systems usability will be at the core of the subsequent objectives, where the functionalities and operational outcomes will be considered. These subsequent objectives will then outline the benefits of the proposed interface such as a rewarding and engaging user interface. Nevertheless, these outcomes are determined by the system design which in effect will enhance the systems usability (Usability, 2017). User Requirements While attempting to identify the system requirements, a number of evaluation and assessment procedures were conducted. For one, face to face interviews were conducted to understand the users needs. These interviews were then supplemented with surveys and focus groups. These assessments outlined the following functional requirements. Functional requirements: Personalised user accounts to enable users to create, login and renew their accounts. Placement of orders through the defined accounts. An intelligent system that distinguishes between placed and purchased orders. Memory allocation to store customer preferences and order history. Verification through authentication and authorization Geo-location capabilities. Objectives determined from requirements Design requirements: Enhanced and manipulable system libraries to match the available orders/products. Real-time system design. Enhanced user experienced through the one-on one interaction platform (personalised accounts or portals). User and shopping alerts through the geo-location feature (Usability partners, 2017). Outputs and Targets Outputs: An integrated and collaborative design that improves business activities through e-commerce (online shopping). An efficient system with intuitive interfaces to match customers requirements (Carleton, 2013). Targets: Initial system evaluation (System design) Users stories User interface design Implementation (coding) Testing Deployment Maintenance and troubleshooting (Liu, 2013) Use Cases User cases (Actors) All online Shoppers: New and active customers Online Shopping: User shopping cart Delete items, Edit items and Add items Identification of products (Viewing available orders) Authentication and Identity Making a purchase Identity and verification Order checkout Identification and payment services Registering a new user Authentication Success Criteria Generally, the ability to meet the objectives stated earlier will determine the rate of success of the project. Moreover, while applying the targets mentioned above, several milestones will be established and used to gauge the design progress. Accomplishing these milestones will also serve as another way to defining the success of the designed system. Consider the following, identifying the user stories on time and enhancing the design of the wireframes developed. Such an achievement will be identified as a success as it meets the basic design requirements. (Usability, 2017). Finally, the sub sequent objectives will also serve as another assessment for the system success i.e. rewarding and engaging system. Key Assumptions The proposed users (online shoppers) are literate and have the basic understanding of online technologies more son the internet. Secondly, the user poses the basic technological resources i.e. computers and the internet. The chosen business has the means to support the system infrastructure. Design Aims Out design must be able to offer immediate and future solutions for online shopping. This endeavour calls for an adaptive system that emulates the existing technological climate. An agile approach is the best fit for such a design, a design that will satisfy all business requirements regardless of the development environment (UML diagrams, 2017). Essentially, this approach will divide the system design into different sections based on user requirements and developers expertise. Following this categorization, the design will follow an iterative procedure where different assembly options will be used until the final and desired product is achieved (Agile methodology, 2017). Now, user experience supported by their requirements will form an integral role in this design where, their stories (experiences) will determine the system templates developed i.e. wireframes. Furthermore, the designed templates will then highlight the interface functionalities which again reflect the users needs (Pichler, 2012) Fig: Design Principle So why an agile approach? Well, this design model offers agility, convenience and flexibility that other methods cannot offer. Moreover, it has proven to offer dynamic solutions in the past which meet the modern demands. For instance, most modern online systems such as retail stores are designed using an agile approach to cater for market and technological shifts (Lucid chart, 2017). Design Outline A simple design is proposed having four basic interfaces: Overall system design Designing and implementing the user interfaces Login screen for customers to access their personalised accounts Home To pick the desired store e.g. clothing, book store and electronics etc. The store To identify the store location. Shopping To access the available orders/products and to make purchases Database system defining the underlying and supportive data. Testing and prototyping. Proposed Evaluation Methods Usability is a matter of meeting the user requirements while enhancing the experience. Therefore, to gauge its outcome, the user experience will be determined through data collection and evaluation procedures (Cognitive, 2017). Below are the proposed techniques (evaluation methods) Click test A first time click test that outline what draws the users to the interface. Usability test to test the functionality and practicality of the design System usability scale (SUS) A questionnaire test that determines a systems efficiency, usability and goals accomplishment. Overall expert reviews Using renowned professionals to test the designed system (Usability, 2017). References Agile Methodology. (2017). The Agile Movement. Retrieved 19 April, 2017, from: https://agilemethodology.org/ Carleton. B. (2013). Real-time User Interface Design. Retrieved 19 April, 2017, from: https://lostechies.com/chrismissal/2013/08/20/realtime-user-interface-design/ Cognitive. (2017). 10 Things to pay attention in evaluating user interface. Retrieved 19 April, 2017, from: https://cognitivegroup.com/10-things-to-pay-attention-in-user-interface/ Liu. S. (2013). Building Online Shopping Website Based On ASP.NET and SQL Server. Retrieved 19 April, 2017, from: https://www.theseus.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/59337/Final%20thesis.pdf?sequence=1 Lucid chart. (2017). Use Case Diagram for Online Shopping System (UML). Retrieved 19 April, 2017, from: https://www.lucidchart.com/pages/use-case-diagram-for-online-shopping-system-UML Pichler. R. (2012). Agile user interface design. Retrieved 19 April, 2017, from: https://www.romanpichler.com/blog/agile-user-interface-design/ UML diagrams. (2017). Online shopping. UML Use Case Diagram Example. Retrieved 19 April, 2017, from: https://www.uml-diagrams.org/examples/online-shopping-use-case-diagram-example.html Usability partners. (2017). User requirements analysis. Retrieved 19 April, 2017, from: https://www.usabilitypartners.se/services/user-requirements-analysis.php Usability. (2017). User Interface Design Basics. Retrieved 19 April, 2017, from: https://www.usability.gov/what-and-why/user-interface-design.html Usability. (2017). System Usability Scale (SUS). What and why of usability. Retrieved 19 April, 2017, from: https://www.usability.gov/how-to-and-tools/methods/system-usability-scale.html