Comparison Of Mobile Apps, Web Apps And Websites For A Smart Car Parking System

In Part 1 of the ‘Smart Car Parking System’, the specifications noted the use of a Web App along with the Council Website as interfaces for viewing real-time vacant car parking spaces. Compare and contrast the use of mobile Apps, Web Apps and Websites in this role. Establish a scholarly supported argument on the implications and considerations in their deployment. What are the advantages and disadvantages? Think also in terms of the future development and extension of the system (future Paid Parking App?).

Create a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) for in-house development of the front-end of a mobile application for viewing the real-time vacant car parking spaces. This will help Council Management understand the scope and complexity of the in-house development project. No cost and schedule estimation is required at this stage.

Note: The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) defines WBS as a "deliverable oriented hierarchical decomposition of the work to be executed by the project team”.

Alternatives to in-house development of a mobile application that ‘The Shire’ Council might pursue. Considering your responses to Topics 1 and 2, what are your recommendations and why?

Comparison of Mobile Apps, Web Apps and Websites

Shire city council have the requirement to develop a smart car parking system with the implementation of advanced technology. The platform is required to be selected for the development of the user interface between the hardware and the users. The sensors installed in the network should be connected in the network and the interface is used to show real time data fetched from the parking system. The system is designed for enhancing the user experience and share the vacant parking space in the parking lot to the customer to save their time in searching the parking space. With the development of the smart car parking system the management cost of the system can be decreased because the manual activity of the labor and the drivers can be saved. The selection of the interface platform is important for the success of the smart car parking system and respond to the query of the users using the parking lot.

For the selection of the appropriate platform for the development of the interface of the smart car parking system a research is made on the available platform. The advantages and disadvantages of the platforms are web and the mobile platform are selected for starting the development of the web interface of the smart car parking system. The selection of the responsive web design and the mobile application depends on different factors of the business. The budget acts as the main constraint for the development of the web interface (Ferrara et al. 2014). The mobile and the normal website should have the same look and feel such that it does not create a difference for the users using the mobile application or the website. There are several benefit for the development of the mobile application such as they are readily available in the play store or apple store. The web application is used for the development of a mobile version of a non-mobile ready website (Amalfitano et al. 2015). The website developed for the car parking system should be mobile friendly and an analysis should be made for searching the mostly used operating system and it should be selected for starting the development of the application.

For choosing the mobile website or the mobile application it is important to understand the difference and benefits of the mobile application and the website. The features required to be embedded should be analyzed the base of the website should be selected for the created of the webpages (Popa et al. 2014). The web applications generally finds its application for the ecommerce websites, messaging services, etc. the web applications functional similar to the desktop software applications or like a mobile application. The web applications are designed to store local data for continuing online functionality. The mobile web applications are designed by targeting the mobile device and responsive web design is applied for the development of the website and operate in different devices of varying screen sizes (Marcano-Belisario et al. 2014). The web application are more manageable than the mobile application and it provides support for cross platform compatibility i.e it can be access from different ranges of devices irrespective of the platform or OS used for accessing the application.

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) for In-house Development of the Front-end

Native web applications are also developed for the development different languages such as java, swift, objective C are used but the cost of development is much higher than the development of the responsive web design.  The development of the mobile website adds the following advantages such as it is easy to use and are search engine friendly (Kang and Jung 2014). It can be embedded with the QR codes such that the users entering the car parking system can scan the codes for opening the mobile website and find the free space available in the parking lot. The mobile website helps in improvement of the customer relationship because it can be promoted via the social media and improve the business client relationship.  

The website of the smart car parking system should be developed for increasing the customer satisfaction such that they can browse the different service and offers of the car parking system. It provides easy access of the information and thus helps in better relationship with the users using the car parking system (Djahel et al. 2015). The website increase the opportunity of the smart car parking system because it can be used for getting the feedback of the users using the parking system and the business system should be explored for development of the system in future. The website can also be used for holding the records of the employees and the stakeholders associated with the car parking system (Litman 2018). The website should act as the base platform and it should be mobile friendly such that it can be accessed from different handheld devices. The websites can be developed at a less cost when compared with the mobile and web application.

Figure 1: Work Breakdown Structure

(Source: Created by author)

The development of the WBS is essential for successfully develop the smart car parking system and control the development process. It acts as the key deliverable of the project and the project is divided into manageable chunks for its execution by the team members. The work break down structure is created by outlining the project with the deliverables following the hierarchy. It helps in proper calculation of the project budget and align the project with the requirement of the Shire City council. The risk associated with the selection of the interface can also be identified from the WBS and helps in preparation of a risk management plan for the development of an error free project.

Alternatives to In-house Development

It is recommended that the responsive mobile web application should be selected for the development of the web interface because it can act as a base platform for the development of the mobile application in future. The mobile websites are easier to develop and it can be used for promotion of the smart car parking system and engage more number of users for using the car parking service. The mobile application are cost effective and more flexible than the mobile applications because new features can be added to the website easily. For using the mobile application the application needs to be downloaded by the user and it should not be a viable solution all the time for the users. On the other hand the mobile website can be opened on a single click by scanning an embedded QR code or opening a link sent through message. The mobile application is developed for generating a web presence of the application and it communicate with the target audience for getting the feedback for the improvement of the mobile website according to their needs. The mobile application should be launched after the success of the website because it would reduce the barriers increase the interactivity of the mobile application.

Conclusion

The report is prepared for the development of the smart car parking system and choosing the best platform for the development of the interface. The responsive web application is selected for the development of the mobile website and implementation of specific feature such as mapping based on location and get the data from the sensors installed in the parking lot. The cost of development of the system is reduced with the implementation of the web based interface design of the mobile website.  The mobile website is selected for the development of the interface because it can be developed at a minimal cost and it can be used in future for the addition of new feature and increase the efficiency of the car parking system. Moreover the mobile website can act as a platform for the development of the mobile application and it can be used as a web application which can be used as an alternative for the development of the mobile application. The mobile websites are easier to develop and it taken less time than the mobile application for development. The errors in the mobile websites can be rectified during the maintenance stage and helps in increasing the efficiency of the smart car parking system.

References

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