IS480 Team wiki: 2012T2 DaDa Achievers Midterm
Welcome to DaDa Achievers Midterm Page!
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Home | Project Overview | Project Management | Project Documentation | Project Progress Summary | Reflections |
Project Progress Summary
General Information
Midterm presentation slides:Midterm Slides
Project Proposal:Proposal
Project Overview: Project Description
Functional Description of Project: Project Documentation
Project Highlight
Acceptance to Midterm
For acceptance, we built a simple inventory management system with the login and add user functions required for managing customers, and demonstrated during Acceptance presentation. After acceptance, we have developed 2 fully working systems, the E-commerce(front-end) and Inventory Management System(back-end). We have finished almost all functions(except scanning of barcode) and will be demonstrating both systems during Midterm presentation.
Unexpected events
Inventory Management System: Initial plan was to code the system from scratch. However, we switch to Magento after realising that we could provide a more comprehensive system (to track both inventory and customers) for our client.
E-commerce: Initially, client was flexible with the E-commerce UI theme that we suggest to them. However, client requested a totally different theme from the current one that we have been working on.
After Midterm
After Midterm, we will revamp the E-commerce UI to fit client's requirements. After which, we will develop the mobile version of E-commerce with the barcode function integrated in it. We will also be developing a ring customisation function, which allows customers to create their own graduation ring.
Project Management
Project Status
Function | Status | Confident Level (0-1) | Comment |
Authentication & Authorisation | Fully deployed and tested 100% | 1 | Haja |
Inventory Listing | Fully deployed and tested 100% | 1 | Haja |
Barcode Creation and Scanning | Deployed to server and 60% done | 0.9 | Haja researching on integration of Magento with scanner for processing barcode |
Inventory Tracking | Fully deployed and tested 100% | 1 | Haja |
Online Ordering, Online Request and Tracking | Fully deployed and tested 100% | 1 | Jasper |
Update Order and Payment Module | Fully deployed and tested 100% | 0.7 | Haja & Jasper |
Customer Records Management | Deployed to server and 90% done | 0.8 | Changing of graduants purchase status incomplete |
Import/Export wizard for Excel | Fully deployed and tested 100% | 0.8 | Haja |
Project Schedule (Plan vs Actual)
Iterations | Planned | Actual | Comments | |
1 | Authentication and Authorisation | 24 Oct 2012 | 24 Oct 2012 | |
Product Listing and Status | 2 Nov 2012 | 5 Nov 2012 | Haja fall sick | |
2 | Barcode Creation | 23 Nov 2012 | 9 Dec 2012 | Clash with Final exams |
Barcode Scanning | 13 Dec 2012 | 14 Dec 2012 | Haja researching on integration of Magento with scanner for processing barcode | |
3 | Inventory Tracking | 27 Dec 2012 | 27 Dec 2012 | |
4 | Online Ordering | 13 Jan 2013 | 6 Jan 2013 | |
Order Request | 15 Jan 2013 | 9 Jan 2013 | ||
Track Orders | 18 Jan 2013 | 11 Jan 2013 | ||
Track Orders | 18 Jan 2013 | 11 Jan 2013 | ||
5 | Edit functions in IMS (Magento) | 30 Jan 2013 | 30 Jan 2013 | |
Edit Functions in E-commerce (Magento) | 30 Jan 2013 | 29 Jan 2013 | ||
Edit UI in IMS (Magento) | 31 Jan 2013 | 2 Feb 2013 | Learning Magento famework | |
Process Payment | 31 Jan 2013 | 31 Jan 2013 | ||
6 | E-commerce & IMS internal testing | 8 Feb 2013 | 11 Feb 201 | Conducting the test was delayed due to deployment issue |
7 | Customer Records Management | 11 Feb 2013 | 11 Feb 2013 | |
8 | Usability Test 1 | 15 Feb 2013 | 15 Feb 2013 | |
9 | Export/Import wizard for excel | 15 Feb 2013 | 15 Feb 2013 |
Project Metrics
Schedule Metrics
- Current Standing
- Current Standing
Issue faced in Iteration 1
At the start of the project, our schedule was delayed as some of our team members fall sick. After which, we catch up with the schedule and even managed to complete Iteration 4 ahead of the planned schedule.
Issue faced in Iteration 5
We decided to use Magento for the Inventory Management System. This causes our schedule to be delayed again due to the unfamiliarity with Magento and its steep learning curve. After becoming more familiar with the system, we caught with our schedule again.
- Current Standing
- Current Standing
For more information on our project metrics, please visit DaDa Achievers Project Management page.
Project Risks
Please visit DaDa Achievers Project Documentation page for more information on our project risks.
Technical Complexity
Switch to Magento
As doing the Inventory Management from scratch using CakePHP was very time consuming and not enough refrences for Inventory Management online or offline, we decided to change to Mageneto which met the requirements for our sponsor. Although we lack experience and knowledge in both CakePHP and Magento, at least there were more guides and communities online which we very useful during our adoption period for Magento. Switching to Magento also reduced our need to build from scratch which might have led to more errors and difficulty for the company to adopt due to lack of support.
Magento Structure
Technical Challenges - Barcode
In terms of coding, both CakePHP and Magento, has similar style. But, magento is much more scalable compared to CakePHP. The following are some of the changes which allowed faster coding with lesser code duplication.
After converting to Magento, we were having some problem with the barcode. Reducing the number of lines in the code actually helped us solve the problem as there were some problems in the first snippet which was giving errors.
Quality of Product
Intermediate Deliverables
Stage | Specification | Modules |
Project Management | Minutes | Client: Meeting Minutes 1-7 Supervisor: Meeting Minutes 1-8 Team: Meeting Minutes 1-14 |
Metrics | Schedule & Bug metrics | |
Requirements | Storyboard | Inventory Management System, Ecommerce, Ring Customisation |
Mobile Paper Prototype | Mobile App | |
Analysis | Use case | Overall |
Architecture Diagram | Overall | |
Screen Shots | Inventory Management System, E-Commerce, Mobile Paper Prototype | |
Design | ER Diagram | |
Testing | User Test 1 | Instructions and Results |
Performance Testing | Instructions and Results |
Deployment
Please click here to access our E-commerce deployment page.
Please click here to access our Inventory Management System deployment page.
Testing
Please visit DaDa Achievers Project Management for more information on Usability Test 1 and Performance Test.
Reflections
Team Reflection
Chen Chen
- People Management
I faced some challenges ensuring everyone follows strictly to the project schedule as most group members became very busy after the term starts. As workloads became heavier, I learned how to motivate group members to keep them going on their with the allocated tasks. However, there are some group members who are more difficult to manage than the rest. Thus, I have learned to do my best to continuously motivate group members to ensure that they do not fall behind the schedule.
Haja
- Tasks Prioritization
After the decision to change over to Magento and as the school load was getting more, the number of tasks in my to do list was growing. Some of the tasks were so tough for me that I was unable to move on and caused some delays. I decided to change my strategy to divide my time such that I will be able to clear easier tasks faster. I got Chen Chen to help me prioritize based on her opinion. Then I prioritized the items based on my level of confidence. This way, although some of the difficult tasks are still left undone, I managed to reduce my tasks.
Jasper
- Keep Calm
User Interface (UI) can be time consuming and complex depending on what is to be implemented. After Haja made the decision to switch to Magento, more time need to be invested to learn where edits are to be made and its not so simple as to just edit the CSS files. Often times get frustrated as some edits do not actually change the layouts and the most important thing I took away from this is to keep calm and eventually I will be able to do it.
Wilfred
- Client Management
I’ve learned that clients are more than meets the eye, and will/can change their mind about requirements in between meetings! It’s also worth paying attention when they talk about their pain points and struggles with the way they’re currently doing things.
- Quality Assurance
I’ve also realized the importance of testing early and often to ensure the quality of our deployment.