Australian Fashion Designs: A System Analysis Essay.

Background

Background:

Australian Fashion Designs (AFD) is a Brisbane based business with design offices in both Melbourne and Sydney which has traditionally sold women’s clothing to retail outlets through sales representatives, and wedding dresses directly to customers through wedding representatives. The business works with two fashion clothing manufacturers in China and New Zealand, with delivery through the postal service.

The sales representatives are given their own retail stores to work with. This is so stores who are selling AFD products are not approached by more than one sales person. Depending on the number of stores, more than one sales representative may be assigned to one sales area. The retail stores are charged for the product at the recommended retail price less a discount. The amount of this discount varies according to the volume of stocks bought by the store and is normally assigned by the sales representative when they gain a new client.

The wedding representatives also sell the dresses at recommended retail less a discount which is the same for all wedding representatives. As these wedding representatives sell to private people rather than businesses, AFD does not want to keep a record of who they sell to. They must pay for any orders at the time they order however the head office wants to be able to see a total of how much they order every year. Depending on the volume of orders, more than one sales area may be assigned to one wedding representative.

The business was started by the business owner, Julia Spencer who initially undertook all the ordering and selling however the business has now grown to include both part-time and full-time employees. The organisation is also looking to expand further into men’s clothing. Currently the business still has manual stock control and customer relationship systems which have worked well in the past and an off-the-shelf accounting system which is used to manage the accounts receivable and accounts payable of the business.

Although the off-the-shelf accounting package is used and email for communication with suppliers and customers, there is currently a low level of computer use in the organisation. The sales people (both sales representatives and wedding representatives) use an AFD supplied phone and their own laptops, tablets, etc. to take and keep track of orders. The sales people phone orders in to head office and telephone to check on the progress of orders. This means that currently some staff at the head office almost exclusively handle telephone calls from sales people. These phone calls are often lengthy as some sales people only phone their orders in once a week, which concerns Julia Spencer as she does not know the value of the daily sales of each sales person, or who they are visiting as the sales people control their own schedule.

Sales and Distribution System

Although the manual systems for stock management and customer relationship management have worked in the past, Julia Spencer and the new purchasing manager Nicolas Steven and the customer manager Sheela Brown feel an information system could offer significant improvements to the work processes currently in place.

Sheela Brown would like the sales people to order products online as they make the sales. One of her requirements would be to enable the sales people to "check in" online at every retail outlet they visit whether they make a sale or not. This is so she can check what sales calls they make. The sales people are concerned that this takes away the autonomy that they currently have. On the other hand, Nicolas Steven would like to run a report once a month that shows stock levels and how long each product line takes to sell. He would also like to make bigger orders more often to take advantage of smaller shipping costs per piece of merchandise and bulk ordering discounts offered by their suppliers.

A JAD session with key stakeholders revealed the following information. The business processes described below are the system requirements for this information system solution:

• It has been decided to focus on building and implementing the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) application and run a separate project for the purchasing project later. Therefore, do not modelany of the purchasing system (this is where AFD purchase from their suppliers).

• Before a retail store can become a customer of AFD, they must fill in an application form. Applications are reviewed by the management team and not all applications are approved. AFD records the following details for all customers: Name, Address, Telephone, Email, Application date, Discount level, Sales area, and Date last visited. Additionally, AFD records Australian Business Number (ABN) for retailers only (not private customers).

• The geographical sales areas for the sales people have been defined for the whole of Australia using current population numbers. However, AFD does not yet have enough wedding representatives to cover all of Australia so some sales areas do not yet have a wedding representative assigned while some wedding representative are assigned to more than one geographical sales area in cities such as Melbourne.

• AFD wants to run a sales report on the last day of every month that shows the amount of sales, per sales area and per sales person.

• AFD also requires that the following information on each sales visit be kept, the customer, the date of the visit, sales people(s) who visited, and amount of order. Please note for unsuccessful sales visits to potential customers, it is planned that the customer is identified as "potential customer" when their record is created for each geographical sales area to track these visits.

• The wedding representatives are expected to manage their own customers and work load so AFD does not store any details of the weddings held.

• Any payments for salaries or expenses to sales people are outside the scope of this system

Task 1:

The AFD management team has heard of agile and iterative systems development methodologies but is unsure of their effectiveness for their project as there is little knowledge about these in the organisation. Therefore, they want you to write a report discussing the four (4) various methodologies of agile and iterative developments. State under what circumstances each one would be used and then make a recommendation for this project. To do well in this report you must use the detail from the case study in your report as examples, rather than given general information.

The following sections need to be included:

• General introduction to the agile and iterative methodologies. o Methodology 1
  • General discussion

• Advantages

• Disadvantages

• Methodology 2

• General discussion

• Advantages

• Disadvantages

• Methodology 3

• General discussion

• Advantages

• Disadvantages

• Methodology 4

• General discussion

• Advantages

• Disadvantages

• Recommendation

Your target audience is executive business people, who have extensive business experience but limited computing knowledge.

Review the AFD case study and complete the following task with reference to the information in the case study.

Currently there is not a strong reliance from AFD on computers to get their work done outside standard applications. Therefore, acceptance of the new system is a concern for the management team. They have requested that you write a brief memorandum commenting on adopting a User Centred Design (UCD) approach and setting a plan for the development of the Human Computer Interaction (HCI) when considering the CRM application. Briefly discuss UCD and HCI in general and investigate the implications of adopting a UCD approach on the project, introduce your plan supported by the principles of UCD and HCI, and then state why you would recommend this plan. You are expected to use theory in your response.

Your target audience is executive business people, who have extensive business experience but limited computing knowledge.

There is limited information available to you now but you are required to make reasonable assumptions based on the information that you have. Assumptions should be noted and specifically mentioned within your memo

Review the AFD case study and complete the following tasks with reference to the information in the case study.

You are permitted to make reasonable assumptions where necessary but these should be noted.

It is recommended that you review all documentation for this case study before finalising any single solution. Ensure that the required consistency has been included within and between each task solution. You may use a tool such as Microsoft Visio or www.draw.io to draw the models or neatly hand draw and scan into a pdf document. However, you should submit only one document.

Review the AFD case study and prepare an event table for the information system to support the business processes as described. Use at least the following headings for the event table:

Review the AFD case study to prepare a domain model class diagram for the supporting information system.

Solutions are expected to show:

• The class name and attributes list for each class and sub class as required

• All required associations

• All attributes as specifically mentioned in the case study must be reflected
  
  
• Other attributes as needed to support the described functionality.

Review the AFD case study and your event table solution from Task 3 to prepare a Use Case diagram for the supporting information system.

Prepare a Use Case intermediate description for the 'Takes Order' use case, as documented in the event table solution and the use case diagram solution.

Background

Methodology 1: Dynamic Software Development Method

Description: The software methodology that is being used as the primary working methodology in this case has its base on the Rapid Application Development Process. It is a methodology that has four phases in its framework that focuses on the developmental process of the software in the organization also involving the feasibility study regarding the project and on the other hand analyzes the case study with respect to the organizational situation. Iteration process is also involved in the entire developmental process along with the prototype. Furthermore, it is followed by the iterations of design and build.

Advantages: The primary advantages that the methodology possesses are as follows:

• In this process, it is primarily important that the end users are prominently involved during the stages of the development of the software.
• It is essentially important that the basic functions of the developmental process needs to be made easily, then on the skeletal system the complex functions are added one by one. This makes it easier for the inclusion of the advanced parts in the main system.
• Cash flow generated in the company can be checked on easily with this methodology.

Disadvantages: The primary disadvantages that the methodology possesses are as follows:

• The entire methodology and the implementation of the software according to the methodology become excessively expensive for the organization to bear with it.
• The methodology and the software implementation are not well suited for the small scale business organizations.
• Since, the entire model and methodology is new, it becomes extensively difficult for an organization that these methodologies are implemented.

Description: The base of this methodology forms from the development of agile software development and also it incorporates changes in the methodology that occurs during the midway of the developmental process. This ideology behind a methodology describes that an application must be completed by one-third part of least possible time and also aid to the developmental strategies of the software using the least possible budget from the organization.

Advantages: The primary advantages that the methodology possesses are as follows:

• During the development of the process, all the procedures that are practically found to be unnecessary and obsolete can be discarded during the development of the software.
• This methodology aids in building up teamwork within the project team appointed for the particular project and helps in building up of the co-operations within a team.
• The total time required for the development of the software is much lower and so is the proposed budget that is used up during the developmental process of the software.
• The errors that have previously occurred in the earlier stages of the software development are also reduced with the help of this methodology.

Disadvantages: The primary disadvantages that the methodology possesses are as follows:

• Since the entire developmental process is dependent on the synchronization within the team members, it is essential that the entire project team works with excellent collaborative powers; otherwise the project may fall flat.
• There can be occurrences of project disruption if it is seen that the decisions regarding the project are not though over and decided upon in a prompt and immediate manner.
• The project fails to deliver flexibility to the people in charge of developing the software. Therefore, if there is any inconsistency or hampering done on the part of the developer, the procedures of the project will be immensely hampered.

Description: As the name of the project suggests, the extensive planning that is done during the earlier stages of the project development, is known as Plain Driven Development. The entire development process is cheaper as compared to the process of planning. This budget for implementation rises even higher during the implementation of the planned project. Therefore, this methodology involves a much more extensive process of planning so that the alterations required can be made during the planning of the project development itself. This would save the cost of implementation, since this is during this time when the cost of implementation and changes made during that time incurs the most of the proposed budget.

Advantages: The primary advantages that the methodology possesses are as follows:

• The planning that is done prior to the implementation process is so extensive that it becomes almost fool proof, making the development and implementation almost flawless in the further processes.
• Extra cash flow, that is general during the implementation process due to the changes occurring, is curbed with the help of this process, benefitting the organization.

Disadvantages: The primary disadvantages that the methodology possesses are as follows:

• The entire process regarding the extensive planning has to be made absolutely flawless as any disruption in the planning may lead to causing serious problems in the development of the system.
• The absence of stable requirements makes it essentially difficult for the development of the software, furthermore would form difficulty for the developers of the software.

Description: This is a methodology where development of the system becomes extremely flexible and also it becomes easy to bring about any changes in the software system. The methodology consists of four stages, namely, Coding, Testing, Listening and Designing. These procedures are all enlisted within the software making the entire process extremely helpful for concentrating on the other aspects of the development while focus can be given on designing the software.

Sales and Distribution System

Advantages: The primary advantages that the methodology possesses are as follows:

• Helps in lowering developmental cost.
• Customer involvement is made a priority
• Practical plans and scheduling are emphasized.

Disadvantages: The primary disadvantages that the methodology possesses are as follows:

• Requirement changing within the software can become very high.
• Involvement and responsibilities of the people involved in the project development forms the base of the success of the process.
• It is difficult to assume realistic quotes while using the methodology.

The case study of the Australian Fashion Designs has been provided and the organization is a retail business that provides the customers with the clothes. The organization is looking to implement an accounting information system and hence the Dynamic Software Development Method is being recommended for the development of the system for the organization.

Task 2: Memo

Memo

To: Business Executives

From: Please Fill

CC: Please Fill

Date: January 20, 2021

Re: Implementation of the Human Centered Interaction (HCI) with the help of the adoption of the User Centered Design (UCD)   

The need of the development of the human computer interaction deals with the fact that the adoption of the User Centered Design. This fact enables that the processing of the human interaction system for the advance processing of the organization. This is the reason that leads to the acknowledgement of the fact that the human centered interaction acts as the major positive change over the manual system that was the lag for the organization. The main issue with the processing of the manual system could be demented with the application of the User Centered Design for the creation of human centered interaction.

The automation of the business organization ensures the fact that the procedure of the system would be very effective in the business analysis. The local implementation of the automation ensures the increase in the efficiency of the organization. The overall business procedure is bettered with the processing of the data.

The development of the objectives that will help them in ensuring the fact that would help them in the processing of the organization and reaching the goals of the business administration ensures the fact that the data processing is don with much higher efficiency. This ensures that the output of the organization will be more efficient while using the human centered interaction rather that the usage of the manually implemented applications. After the implementation of the human centered interaction the employee o the organization can directly communicate with the clients and understand the needs and demands of the clients. This ensures the fact that the terminology of the processing will be concluded as the process that helps in functioning much more efficiently. The usage of the human centered interaction also ensures the fact that the application becomes more user friendly and the access to the data of the entire structure gets easier. This system helps the users to navigate the application with ease and the efficiency of the usage of the application marks an abrupt change. Despite all the advantages stated above the most important thing is that the views of the clients are given high importance and the clients who have been placing order for the same set the ideas provided by the clients for the functioning of the application, which helps in increase the ease of handling of the application. The characteristic of uniqueness of the data centre also acts as the benefit of using human centered interaction in the projection of an application.  

Current Computer Usage

The interface after using the human centered interaction provides the capability to the application that ensures the fact that the interface gets more appropriate or the human users. This ensures the fact that the data that are provided by the users are taken as the input and the output is provided accordingly by the application. The process of taking direct input from the users ensures the fact that the data are used for the evaluation of the project. This evaluation system provides the better response for the completion of the task. This ensures the fact that the data that are provided by the users are used hence the output desired by the user is achieved.  The processing of the application is completely based on the logic that is provided by the client. This ensures the fact that the logic on which the application is running will provide the output result that the client or the user is desiring. The exact method that is suggested by the user is implemented for the execution of the process. The values that are inserted by the user is modulated as per the logic is implemented in the process. This ensures the fact that the proper generation of the resultant. This will also ensure the fact that the inclusion of the hardware inputs will get accessed during the projection of the functioning of the application. The hardware peripheral also plays an important role in the processing of the data that are involved in the processing of the application.

The discussion of the described human centered interaction application in the processing of the data management must be ensuring the process that the data of the application maintains the relation of the employees with the management. This ensures the fact that the customer relation management is performed efficiently. The development of the UCD and applying the same in the human centered interaction and increases the efficiency of the data management and the relationship between the employees and the clients

Task 3: Event Table

Event	Event Type	Trigger	Source	Activity/Use Case	System Response/Output	Destination
Fill application form	External Event	enter details in the application form	customers	application	Accept the form submission	system
Review of the application	Internal Event	The admin views the form	Management	Application review	Provide the application for analysis	Customers
Record the customer details	Internal Event	The details of the customers are entered in to the system.	Sales representative	Record customer details	Store the details  of the customers	Customers
Record ABN	Internal Event	The ABN number of the customer id entered into the system.	Sales representative	Record ABN details	Store the details  of the customers	Customers
Place the order online		Select the items	customers	Order products online	The items are placed into the account of the customers	System
Review order	Internal Event	View the orders placed by the customers.	Management	Review order	The items are produced to the management for review	System
Confirmation of  Order	Internal Event	The confirm order option is selected.	system	Confirm order	The system stores the order of the customer	customer
Check the progress of the order	Internal Event	The progress of the orders is tracked.	customer	Track orders	The system displays the progress of the order	System
Delivery Of the Order	Internal Event	The product is delivered	Delivery staff	Deliver order	The order delivery in stored in the system	Customers
Check Monthly sales report	Internal Event	The monthly sales report is generated	system	Check Monthly sales report	The monthly sales report is displayed	Management
Run sales report	Internal Event	The sales report is analyzed	Management	Run sales report	The sales report analysis is displayed	System
Maintain record	External Event	The record of the report is maintained	Management	Maintain record	The record is stored in the system	System
Identify potential customers	Internal Event	The customers actions are viewed.	Management	Identify potential customers	The customers of the system are stored	System
Track the customer’s visits	Internal Event	The orders of the customers online are tracked	Management	Track the customer’s visits	The details of the orders of the customers are displayed	System

Use Case Name:	Record ABN
Scenario:	The system would be recording the ABN of the customer
Triggering Event:	The sales representative would be entering the details of the customer.
Brief Description:	The ABN number of customer is recorded in the system
Actors:	The sales representative, the customer
Related Use Case:	Not applicable
Stakeholders:	The customers
Precondition:	The details of the customers are to be stored in the system.
Post Condition:	The customer would be registered in the system.
Flow of Activities:	Actor	System
	1. Enter customer details 2. Fetch the ABN	1. Store details 2. Display ABN
Exception Conditions:	The ABN of the customer is absent.

Alkhateeb, A., Nam, Y.H., Rahman, M.S., Zhang, J. and Heath, R.W., 2017. Initial beam association in millimeter wave cellular systems: Analysis and design insights. IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications, 16(5), pp.2807-2821. Retrieved from https://arxiv.org/pdf/1602.06598.pdf 

Dennis, A., Wixom, B.H. and Tegarden, D., 2015. Systems analysis and design: An object-oriented approach with UML. John wiley & sons. Retrieved from https://s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.documents/26644149/mis_5100-5110_chudoba.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAIWOWYYGZ2Y53UL3A&Expires=1530509397&Signature=28TGoT6uC9TvMSKBMXJr7O5ennY%3D&response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%3DSystem_analysis_and_design.pdf 

Dong, X., Shi, Z., Lu, G. and Zhong, Y., 2015. Formation?containment analysis and design for high?order linear time?invariant swarm systems. International Journal of Robust and Nonlinear Control, 25(17), pp.3439-3456. Retrieved from https://or.nsfc.gov.cn/bitstream/00001903-5/329800/1/1000014275255.pdf 

McCuen, R.H., 2016. Hydrologic analysis and design (Vol. 3). Prentice Hall. Retrieved from https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9781420032192 

Montgomery, D.C., 2017. Design and analysis of experiments. John wiley & sons. Retrieved from https://dspace.elib.ntt.edu.vn/dspace/bitstream/123456789/8319/1/Design%20and%20Analysis%20of%20Experiments.pdf 

Rashid, M.H. ed., 2017. Power electronics handbook. Butterworth-Heinemann. Retrieved from

https://s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.documents/30893154/Power_Electronics_Handbook_RASHID_%28part1%29.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAIWOWYYGZ2Y53UL3A&Expires=1530509612&Signature=ossn4NYh73XysDFM10LHBkxOAzw%3D&response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%3DPower_electronics_handbook.pdf 

Vaidyanathan, S. and Azar, A.T., 2016. Takagi-Sugeno fuzzy logic controller for Liu-Chen four-scroll chaotic system. International Journal of Intelligent Engineering Informatics, 4(2), pp.135-150. Retrieved from https://www.inderscienceonline.com/doi/abs/10.1504/IJIEI.2016.076699