CC3002 2011-12 Coursework Assignment 2 Design Specification with Software

CC3001 2011-12 Coursework Assignment 2: Design Specification with software

Key information
Type: Title: Weighting: Submission date: Submission procedure: Constraints: Group report (+ MSS software on CD/USB) "MIDAS Design Specification with software" 60% 16th December 2011 TB2 Undergraduate Office (or WebLearn) Font must be 12pt (Times New Roman or Arial) Page margins must be at least 1 / 2.5cm all around You must include a CD/USB stick containing your MSS software (i.e. a version of *.mdb, plus MS-Excel spreadsheet and/or other appropriate software) if submitted to UG Office; please do not submit your work on a floppy disk as many staff PCs no longer have floppy disk drives. Marian Haste UK Ltd case study.

See also:

Coursework outline
Over the course of this semester, you are developing an MSS application that would support any one of the management decisions identified in the module case study (Marian Haste UK Ltd), along with the relevant analysis & design documentation. In assignment 1, you selected one of the Marian Haste UK Ltd. management decisions, detailed the requirements for an MSS to support that decision, and developed some related queries. In assignment 2, you will ideally build on and refine the work you have already done, but you may at this stage change which decision you plan to support, the requirements for your MSS, and/or the queries you have developed.

Assignment 2 outline
This report is intended for the MIDAS steering committee and should be presented to a professional standard. In this second assignment, you are required to produce a) a Design Specification for your COCOA POPS Management Support System (MIDAS), with an outline description of your MSS solution in business terms a more detailed description of your MSS design in technical terms details of the software implementation environment a test plan for your software with the associated results a critique of the project, reports and software produced (to be done as a group) a brief description of the contribution that each team member has made to the project (to be completed by each individual) a brief description of how the feedback from the first submission has been used in the development of assignment 2 b) your MIDAS software (typically, a database with a menu and 3 parameter-driven reports and an MS-Excel spreadsheet). For each section in this report, marks will be awarded for specific statements, which are: relevant to the case study supported by appropriate justification (where necessary) corresponding to this coursework specification forming part of a sensible outline of requirements consistent with other parts of the document This assignment contributes 60% of the module's total assessment and is to be submitted by the deadline specified above. Please print your student numbers and your names clearly on the group coursework header sheet; you must also sign the header sheet to indicate that you have read and understood the universitys plagiarism regulations.

CC3002 2011-12 Coursework Assignment 2 Design Specification with Software

Assessment criteria
Marks for each section of the Design Specification and Software are as follows: Section Title page Management summary Table of contents 1. Introduction 2. Outline Solution 3. Technical Design 4. Data cleansing 5. Software implementation environment 6. Test plan, results and comments 7. Use of Feedback 8. Group critique 9. Individual contributions 10. References 11. Software with printouts Total Marks available 2 5 3 5 10 10 10 5 10 5 5 5 5 20 100

General guidance (applicable to the whole report)

In preparing your Design Specification, please note the following: Specific guidance on the structure and content of the report is provided below. All the section headings given below must appear in your report. The guidance below each section heading will guide you in developing the appropriate content for each section of the document. The guidance itself should not appear in your report nor should you include any additional sections, though you may include sub-section headings of your own if you wish. Please also take careful note of the "suggested length" quantity guidance, e.g. the Introduction section should be about 1 page in length. Pages should be numbered (except the title page, management summary and table of contents); page numbers must be word-processed and match those given in the contents page.

Specific guidance, specifying each section of the report (a) & software (b)
(a) Your Design Specification will include the following sections: Title page (1 page) Must include: title of document, client, names and student IDs of group members, date. Management summary ( page) A brief outline of what is covered in the report, including the client, the nature of the MSS. Contents page (1 page) All sections of document listed with correct page numbers. 1. Introduction (suggested length: 1 page) Provide a coherent introduction to this document: give a clear statement of the purpose of the document; briefly outline any relevant background information;

CC3002 2011-12 Coursework Assignment 2 Design Specification with Software 2. Outline Solution (suggested length: up to 3 pages) Describe your MSS solution in business terms (i.e. how your solution assists the appropriate manger(s) in the decision-making for the selected area) with any relevant illustrations (diagrams and screen shots from your MSS application). This section should include a brief practical justification of your MSS solution: what benefits will this application deliver to the relevant stakeholder(s)? 3. Technical Design (suggested length: up to 3 pages) Present the technical details of your solution design, clearly identifying the data it uses and explaining how this data is transformed to produce useful information. This section should make use of one or more recognised design technique(s), e.g. Decision table/tree, STD, ERD, DFD, task analysis, flow chart, any UML techniques, etc. You should discuss your choice of technique(s) with the workshop tutors. 4. Data Cleansing (suggested length: up to 2 pages) Identify errors and inconsistencies you found in the data, explain how you dealt with these, and the reasons for your chosen approach. 5. Software Implementation Environment (suggested length: page) Give details of the technical environment, including names/versions of programs, databases, and any other resources used by your MSS application. You must also explain how to run your MSS, including a description of the input to be entered (e.g. product code). 6. Test Plan and Results (suggested length: depends on complexity of application) Provide details of the tests you carried out during the development of your software. The bulk of this section should be in the form of a table with specific tests you have conducted (typical headings: Test Id, Test Description, Input, Expected Outcome, Actual Result, Changes Made, Comments etc.). 7. Use of Feedback (suggested length: 1 pages) Identify how you have used the feedback from assignment 1 in assignment 2. This could include a change of analysis techniques, an enhanced user interface for your queries, etc. 8. Group Critique (suggested length: 1 pages) Provide a coherent critique of the development process you have undertaken (what you have done well, what you could have done better, etc.) and of the application you have developed (what is good about it, what needs improving, etc.). 9. Individual Contributions (suggested length: page per person + signatures of group) Provide a brief, clear outline of what each individual did on this project, throughout both stages. You are not required to comment on how well you have done or what you learned, etc. as you will address these issues in your group critique. Each page to be signed by all group members, to verify the accuracy of the account. 10. References (suggested length: 1 page) A list of any documents and sources of information you have used (using the Harvard Referencing Style) and showing where the material has been used within the report. 11. Software (Access and Excel applications) with printouts (suggested length: 1 page per query/report/graph/chart) (b) The software should include: a version of your database application with - a menu (switchboard) - 3 parameter-driven reports (based on appropriate queries) You may add new table(s) and/or column(s) to the database you created if your MSS needs them, but you are not required to do so. MS-Excel application using data from the same database; this application should MS-Excel functions and produce graphs/charts in order to illustrate any trends or patterns in the data, and/or allow what-if? testing. The data used in the Excel application does not need to be obtained from a dynamic link to the database. The printouts will show the output produced by your system in answer to the queries generated and the graphs/charts produced to support your chosen management decision.