Sheffield Hallam University

Faculty of Arts, Computing, Engineering and Sciences

A Development of Electronic Menu (E-menu) Application

for Restaurant on iPad

By

Traitet Thepbandansuk

MSc Enterprise Systems Professional

10 September 2012

Supervised by: Dr Frances Slack

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the Sheffield Hallam University for the degree of Master of Science

(Enterprise Systems Professional)

Acknowledgements

This research would not have been completed without the support of my supervisor,

restaurant owner, manager and staff at the Thai restaurant, Andy Paul, and my friends and

family. Firstly, Dr Frances Slack, my supervisor, was the most important person, who

provided me with valuable guidance and great support. Secondly, without support from the

restaurant owner, manager and staff, my case study dissertation would have been

impossible. Although they had to spend a lot of time with me, they indicated themselves by

giving me so much useful information for my dissertation, without exception. Furthermore,

I would have to thank Andy Paul, who has helped me to enhance my English skills at all

times. Finally, I would like to express my deep appreciation to my friends and family. They

have always support me strongly both in my academic studies and also with my personal

problems during my study.

Abstract

The restaurant industry is an area, which has remained behind technical advances until

recently, when the electronic (e-menu) started being used to improve catering services and

to increase revenue. To answer the research question ‘how can a prototype of an e-menu

application be developed for the casual dining restaurant industry to meet business

requirements’, this dissertation employed a case study approach at a Thai restaurant in the

UK. The research was conducted based on qualitative empirical research to gather business

requirements by direct observation, to develop a prototype using Rapid Application

Development (RAD) methodology, to collect data by group interviews, and finally to

analyse data by content analysis. The objectives of this study were to identify the key issues

relating to development of the e-menu application, to investigate system requirements and

develop an e-menu prototype, also to evaluate users’ perceptions on e-menu, and to make

recommendations with regards to e-menu development.

As this dissertation is presented by portfolio, it has not only a written paper to describe the

research, but also, various digital artifacts are provided to help the reader understand more

fully how an e-menu application could, and should, be developed. This dissertation by

portfolio includes system analysis and design documents, source codes of iPad e-menu

application, Web services and web application in ASP.Net, and presentations of e-menu

features on PowerPoint and in video format. All digital artifacts can be navigated from the

portfolio navigator file included in the portfolio CD attached in this document.

Finally, this research had examined four potential outcomes relating to the research

question and objectives. Firstly, list of business requirements, UML use case and class

diagrams, and ER (Entity relationship) and workflow diagrams were produced to analyse

and design the e-menu system. Secondly, the prototype of e-menu application, including

source codes, database and prototype presentations, were developed to use as tools for the

collection of the data from the last two potential outcomes, which were users’ perceptions

and recommendations about the e-menu development.

Key words: Restaurant e-menu on iPad, Rapid Application Development (RAD), Model-

View-Controller (MVC), ASP.Net, Xcode, Web services, iPad application, mobile

application development, and direct observation.

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Table of Contents

Acknowledgements..................................................................................................................i

Abstract...................................................................................................................................ii

Table of Contents...................................................................................................................iii

List of Figures.........................................................................................................................v

List of Tables.........................................................................................................................vi

List of Abbreviations............................................................................................................vii

1. Introduction.....................................................................................................................1

1.1 Aims of the study..................................................................................................2

1.1.1 Research question.......................................................................................2

1.1.2 Research objectives....................................................................................2

1.2 Limitations of research.........................................................................................3

2. Literature Review............................................................................................................4

2.1 Electronic menu (e-menu) for restaurants............................................................4

2.2 Restaurant service process....................................................................................5

2.3 Software usability and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI)...............................6

2.4 Software development methodologies and prototyping technique.......................7

2.5 Mobile application development on iOS or Android devices..............................8

2.6 Conclusion of the literature review.....................................................................10

3. Justifications of the Approaches....................................................................................11

3.1 Research process and framework.......................................................................12

3.2 Case study methodology.....................................................................................13

3.3 Software development methodology by RAD with prototyping........................14

4. Findings and Discussion................................................................................................16

4.1 Users’ perceptions of the e-menu prototype.......................................................17

4.1.1 Convenience.............................................................................................18

4.1.2 Improving customer service.....................................................................19

4.1.3 Preventing human error............................................................................20

4.1.4 E-menu issues...........................................................................................21

4.2 Recommendations of e-menu application development.....................................23

4.2.1 Software development processes for e-menu application........................23

4

4.2.2 System design of the e-menu system........................................................24

4.2.3 Cross-platform communication between .Net and iOS platforms............25

4.2.4 Model-View-Controller (MVC) design for e-menu system.....................26

5. Critical Reflection and Evaluation................................................................................27

5.1 Knowledge of the domain...................................................................................27

5.2 Justification of the approaches............................................................................29

5.3 Overall reflective commentary with regards to research outcomes....................32

5.3.1 System analysis and design documents....................................................32

5.3.2 Prototype of e-menu application..............................................................33

5.3.3 Users’ perceptions on the prototype of e-menu application.....................34

5.3.4 Recommendations of e-menu application development...........................35

6. Conclusion and Limitations...........................................................................................36

6.1 Conclusions.........................................................................................................36

6.2 Critical evaluation of learning experience..........................................................37

6.3 Limitations and recommendations for further research......................................38

6.4 Research contribution.........................................................................................38

7. References.....................................................................................................................39

8. Appendices....................................................................................................................44

8.1 Project Plan.........................................................................................................44

8.2 Summary of activities at the case study restaurant.............................................46

8.3 Portfolio navigator..............................................................................................47

8.4 Table of content of individual pieces of evidence..............................................49

8.5 Overview of evidence collected for the dissertation portfolio............................51

8.6 List of interview questions..................................................................................52

8.7 A copy of the letter of agreement with the restaurant........................................53

8.8 A copy of research ethics checklist....................................................................54

8.9 Research Proposal...............................................................................................56

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List of Figures

Figure 1 - E-menu on iPad tablet............................................................................................1

Figure 2.1 - Restaurant e-menu solutions...............................................................................4

Figure 2.2 - Basic process flow diagram of restaurant system...............................................5

Figure 2.5 - Cross-platform communication using Web services...........................................9

Figure 3.1 - Research process and framework......................................................................12

Figure 3.2 - Rapid Application Development (RAD) and prototyping................................15

Figure 4 - Software development process and potential outcomes.......................................16

Figure 4.1 - Data collection process and users’ perceptions.................................................17

Figure 4.1.1 - Users’ perceptions on convenience................................................................18

Figure 4.1.2 - Users’ perceptions on improving customer service.......................................19

Figure 4.1.3 - Users’ perceptions on preventing human error..............................................20

Figure 4.1.4 - Users’ perceptions on e-menu issues.............................................................22

Figure 4.2.1 - E-menu development process and technical system design...........................23

Figure 4.2.2 - System design of e-menu system...................................................................24

Figure 4.2.3 - Cross-platform communication between .Net and iOS platforms.................25

Figure 4.2.4 - Model-View-Controller (MVC) design for e-menu system...........................26

Figure 5.2 - Example of an implicit requirement..................................................................30

Figure 5.3.2 - The first and final versions of the e-menu prototype.....................................33

Figure 8.1.1 - The initial and last updated action plan for dissertation.................................44

Figure 8.1.2 - Gantt chart of project milestones...................................................................45

Figure 8.3.1 - Evidence collected for the dissertation portfolio............................................47

Figure 8.3.2 - The artifact outcomes for the dissertation portfolio.......................................48

Figure 8.7 - A copy of the letter of agreement with the restaurant.......................................53

Figure 8.8 - A copy of research ethics checklist...................................................................54

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List of Tables

Table 2.5 - Comparison of mobile development platforms on iOS and Android...................8

Table 3 - Summary of research objectives, methods and outcomes.....................................11

Table 3.2 - Comparison among observation, interview and questionnaire...........................14

Table 4 - Interview participant information..........................................................................16

Table 5.1 - Mapping key knowledge, objectives and learning points...................................27

Table 5.2 - Mapping approaches, their potentials, limitations and learning points..............29

Table 8.2 - Summary of activities at the case study restaurant.............................................46

Table 8.4 - Table of content of individual pieces of evidence..............................................49

Table 8.5 - Overview of evidence collected for the dissertation portfolio...........................51

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List of Abbreviations

ASP Active Server Pages

E-Menu Electronic Menu

ER Entity Relationship

GUI Graphical User Interface

HCI Human–Computer Interaction

MS Microsoft

MVC Model-View-Controller

OS Operating System

PDF Portable Document Format

PoS Point of Sale

RAD Rapid Application Development

SOAP Simple Object Access Protocol

SQL Structured Query Language

UK United Kingdom

UML Unified Modelling Language

XML Extensible Markup Language

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1. Introduction

Development of technology enables people to become more comfortable in most areas

of our lives. The restaurant industry is an area, which has remained behind technical

advances until recently, when the electronic menu (e-menu) started being used to

improve catering services and increase revenue. Nowadays, the e-menu is becoming

popular and changing the concept of food ordering by paper-based menus. As can be

seen in Figure 1, restaurant customers are able to view the items listed on the menu as

well as being able to order directly from tablets or touch-screen monitors located on

tables, which offer customers a full range of ordering choices (Azilen 2011; Conceptic

no date).

This research had conducted an inductive approach by case study methodology at a

Thai restaurant in England in order to develop a software prototype and evaluate users’

perceptions of e-menu. The qualitative approaches were employed to collect data, such

as passive observation to gather system requirements, and group interview to evaluate

users’ perceptions.

Figure 1 - E-menu on iPad tablet

1

1.1 Aims of the study

The aim of this research was to study that how to develop e-menu application for use in

casual restaurant industry and to meet business requirements. The research question,

objectives and limitations of research are summarised below.

1.1.1 Research question

How can a prototype of an electronic menu (e-menu) application be developed for the

casual dining restaurant industry to meet business requirements?

1.1.2 Research objectives

− To identify the key issues relating to the development of an e-menu application

for the casual restaurant industry.

− To investigate the system requirements as well as analyse, design and develop an

e-menu prototype to meet business needs.

− To evaluate users’ perceptions on the final prototype of the e-menu application

from stakeholders, namely restaurant manager, waiting staff and chefs.

− To make recommendations regarding to the development of e-menu application.

The first objective began with the critical evaluation the range of literature to find out

the potential issues relating to the development of the e-menu application, such as the

current use of paper-based menus and e-menus at restaurants, and the software

development methodology.

The second objective was to gather system requirements in order to design and develop

the e-menu prototype, and produce software development documents. In addition, to

delivering software to meet business needs, Hanafiah (2007) suggests that the software

development approach should be compatible with customer requirements, project team

and time of implementation. The justification of software development methodology is

explained in the section of justification of the approaches.

The third and final objectives were focused on data collection and analysis. Group

interviews were be used for data collection to analyse users’ perceptions, which were

expected to answer the research question in terms of developing an e-menu application

to meet business requirements, whereas the software development processes were be

reflected to make recommendations regarding the development of the e-menu

application to meet business needs.

2

1.2 Limitations of research

This dissertation was a product-based project involving the application of software

engineering techniques to analyse, design, and develop of a piece of software

(University of Oxford no date). The software prototype for this research included only

some specific features, such as ordering food and beverages, previewing order

information, calling for services, and transferring information to the kitchen. Therefore,

other functions, e.g. booking, billing and integrating with a Point of Sale (POS) system,

were excluded in this project. With regards to group interviews, this research focused

on only three main stakeholders, namely the restaurant manager, waiting staff and

chefs, to obtain their users’ perceptions on the prototype of e-menu application.

3

2. Literature Review

This literature review explores potential information to identify current knowledge and

key issues relating to development of a prototype of an e-menu application for the

casual restaurant industry to meet business requirements, which are divided into five

sections: E-menu for restaurants, Restaurant service processes, Software usability and

Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), and Software development methodology and

prototyping techniques, and finally Mobile application development for restaurant e-

menu on iOS or Android devices.

2.1 Electronic menu (e-menu) for restaurants

E-menu is a new technology for restaurant ordering solutions. The system includes

touch-screen devices installed with a piece of software to show a restaurant menu with

actual photos of the dishes (Emenunyy 2012). The touch-screen devices are not only

used to display the list of food and beverages, but also to process the restaurant services,

from ordering to payment (Jenie 2011). In general, an e-menu is used in three different

ways: tablet e-menu, table side touch screen e-menu and a touch screen menu for

waiting areas, as shown in Figure 2.1 (Emenu USA 2011; Conceptic no date). However,

Chen, Lin and Yen (2011) indicate that interactive restaurant table-top e-menus can also

be implemented by using interactive surface technology to enlarge the size of menus

and increase customer attraction.

Figure 2.1 - Restaurant e-menu solutions

(Emenu USA 2011; Conceptic no date) 

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2.2 Restaurant service process

To investigate requirements of a restaurant system, logistics and information flows are

of importance to analyse the system. As can be seen in Figure 2.2, the dotted lines show

that a customer has to wait for a waitress in order to give the order and make payment.

Therefore, these processes can be greatly improved by using an e-menu system

(Crowston, Rubleske and Howison 2006). Furthermore, e-menu enables information to

be sent directly from a dining table to the bar and kitchen. Therefore, customers will

receive their orders faster. It also encourages them to order extra food and drinks during

eating or waiting for their orders.

Although, the e-menu system can bring several benefits, such as enhances the dining

experience, increases restaurant revenue, and reduces waiting time (Chirag 2012), they

are much more expensive than printed menus, and tend to decrease personal contact

between customers and waiting staff (Studentwebstuff 2009). Therefore, these key

issues should be considered when developing a prototype of e-menu application.

Figure 2.2 - Basic process flow diagram of restaurant system

(Crowston, Rubleske and Howison 2006)

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2.3 Software usability and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI)

In a software engineering perspective, the usability has been recognised as an essential

key factor to evaluate software quality (Gulati and Dubey 2012). Majid (2011) similarly

describes that effectiveness of software can be measured based on its usability in terms

of a HCI design and users' experience in using the software. Therefore, consideration of

HCI is an essential factor in delivering high quality software following business needs.

In addition, because HCI deals with the way that people interact with information on

electronic devices, a HCI design should help non-IT proficient users to use the software

without specialised IT knowledge (Edexcel 2010). For example, effective graphical user

interfaces (GUIs) on e-menus should be easy to use without a user manual or long

instruction by users. Therefore, to answer the research question, HCI design should be

considered and evaluated by both users and developers in all development processes to

produce the quality of the software prototype (Adikari 2009). The key quality

components of HCI design suggested by Norman and Nielsen (2011) and Nielsen

(1993) can be used to enhance usability of the prototype developed in this project as

below.

− Visibility: The application allows users to know the result of each operation.

− Feedback: The application allows users to return to a previous screen.

− Memorability: Users are easily able to recognise when they return to use

software again. The application should contain consistent user

interfaces.

− Learnability: Users find it easy to accomplish basic tasks in the first time.

− Efficiency: Users are quickly able to learn and perform tasks.

− Satisfaction: Users are pleasant to use software.

However, Hussain et al. (2012) and Gulati and Dubey (2012) similarly suggest that

successful software development is not only associated with HCI and software usability,

but is also dependent on how software development processes fit solutions into problem

areas required by customers or businesses. The software development methodology is

reviewed in the following section.

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2.4 Software development methodologies and prototyping technique

There are several methodologies for software development to meet customer

requirements such as, waterfall, Agile and RAD (Rapid Application Development). The

waterfall model is a traditional approach, which clearly separates project development

into four separate stages: analysis, design, implementation and testing (Khan et al.

2011). Although the waterfall model is an effective way to control deadlines and

outcomes in each process, it has a high cost when requirements are changed. On the

other hand, the Agile and RAD approaches are more flexible to change requirements at

any stage. With an iterative process, the requirements are fulfilled to increase customer

satisfaction (Hoffer, George and Valacich 2008).

Furthermore, prototyping is an effective development technique that allows analysts to

know how users react to work with the prototype, and how good the fit is between their

needs and the prototyped features (Kendall 2011). In addition, after the analysts get the

users’ feedback, they then make a new version to test with users again. This iterative

process continues so that users are relatively satisfied. Therefore, the final product can

be developed in a short time following the customer requirements (Hoffer, George and

Valacich 2008).

However, Khan et al. (2011) claims that the RAD approach with prototyping

concentrates mainly on experimenting with the customer needs. It may results in

insufficiently understanding of the overall business requirements. Moreover, RAD

methodology also requires trial and error activities in order to investigate an appropriate

solution. Consequently, it is able to increase the overall cost and time for implementing

a project that might result in failure of delivery time and spending budget (Cobb 2011).

Justification of software development methodology is described in the next chapter.

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2.5 Mobile application development on iOS or Android devices

Ordering food and drinks at a dining table using an e-menu or tablet computer, such as

iPad and Samsung Galaxy, is an effective method. The build-in wireless feature enables

the tablets to connect a network and the Internet easily, and multi-touch screen and its

interfaces greatly enhance responsiveness and usability (Ray 2012). With their slim

size, the tablets are easier to install than personal computers used for table side touch

screen e-menu, and their screen size is bigger than one on a general smart phone. This

allows diners to view the e-menu at their convenience and place their orders when they

are ready to do so (Duffy 2011; Chirag 2012).

These days, the majority of applications on tablets are based on Apple’s iOS and

Google’s Android platform because of their popularity and divergent approaches (Tracy

2012). As can be seen in Table 2.5, the iOS platform only supports Apple devices, such

as iPad and iPhone. In contrast, Android is an open-source platform owned by Google,

who distributes Android operating system to several mobile manufacturers including

Samsung, HTC and LG, to install on their devices. Furthermore, Android applications

use mainly Java as a programming language. Developers can use open various source

developing tools, such as Google Inventor, IBM Eclipse and NetBeans, whereas the iOS

platform uses Objective-C language, which prefers one particular tool, namely Xcode.

No Platform Apple's iOS Google's Android

1 Owner (Developer) Apple Google

2 Tablet devices support iPad Samsung, HTC, HP, and etc.

3 Sizes of tablet screens 1 (iPad) Several sizes based on devices

4 Operating system (OS) iOS Android based on Linux OS

5 Programming language Objective-C Mainly in Java

6Object OrientedProgramming (OOP)

Yes Yes

7 Preferred developing tool Apple XcodeGoogle App Inventor, IBM Eclipse

and NetBeans

8 Open source platform No Yes

9 Annual fee for development $99 per year One time registration fee $25

10Software approval beforepublishing

Spend 3-4 weeks for app approval by Apple

No need

Table 2.5 - Comparison of mobile development platforms on iOS and Android

(Ray 2012; Lee 2012; Goadrich and Rogers 2011)

Although Android applications can run with a range of hardware, Goadrich and Rogers

(2011) and Shackles (2012) similarly mention that developing applications on Android

8

devices is more difficult than that on the iOS platform in terms of user interface design

because Android devices support a variety of tablet appliances, which all have varying

screen sizes and hardware specifications. As a result, developers find it hard to design

an application, especially user interfaces that fit with those multiple devices.

Both iOS and Android have advantages and drawbacks. However, using Web services

is a good solution to support iPad and Android devices because they can both

communicate with iOS and Android platforms. Web services also enable developers to

reduce the complexity of coding on mobile devices (Gossweiler et al. 2011). As can be

seen in Figure 2.5, accessing databases and business process functionalities can be

implemented by other platforms such as .Net and Java, whereas managing user

interfaces or presentations can be developed separately on iOS and Android devices

(Lee 2012; Microsoft ASP.Net Team 2009).

Figure 2.5 - Cross-platform communication using Web services

Adopted from Microsoft ASP.Net Team (2009) and Lee (2012)

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2.6 Conclusion of the literature review

In summary, the literature review evaluates a range of sources in identifying current

knowledge and key issues with reference to the focus of the research question ‘how can

a prototype of an electronic menu (e-menu) application be developed for the casual

dining restaurant industry to meet business requirements?’ Although several sources

have provided useful information related to developing a restaurant e-menu application,

such as types of e-menus, restaurant service processes, software development

methodologies, and mobile development on iOS and Android devices, the study in the

development of an e-menu application for casual dining restaurants is extremely

limited. Therefore, research outcomes are able to fulfil a gap in the research domain.

Furthermore, the above literature review contains essential information in justifying

appropriate approaches for this research. The diverse justifications are evaluated in the

next section.

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3. Justifications of the Approaches

The objectives of this section are to describe selected research methodologies, tools and

techniques based on the research objectives in order to answer the research question, as

well as to evaluate the chosen methods by comparing with other possible alternatives.

As can be seen in Table 3, there are several approaches to archive the research

objectives. The significant methods, such as case study methodology, direct

observation, group interviews, and Rapid Software Development (RAD), are evaluated

and justified in the following paragraphs.

No Objectives Approaches Outcomes

1To identify key issues relating

to development of e-menu application

Critical evaluation the range of literature

Key issues relating to development of e-menu

application

2To investigate the system

requirements and develop the e-menu prototype

Direct observation and Rapid Application Development

(RAD) Methodology

List of requirements, e-menu prototype and system analysis and design

documents

3To evaluate users' perceptions

of the e-menu prototypeGroup interviews and content

analysisUsers' perceptions

4To make recommendations

with regards to e-menu development

Reflection of the software development process

Recommendations with regards to the development of

e-menu application

Summary of chosen methodologies and approaches

1 Research methodology: Case study

2 Software development methodology: Rapid Application Development (RAD)

3 Inductive research approach: To answer the research question

4 Qualitative approaches: To collect data by direct observation and group interviews

5 Content analysis approach: To analyse data from group interviews

Table 3 - Summary of research objectives, methods and outcomes

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3.1 Research process and framework

There were four main research stages of this case study, which were design, conducting,

analysis and conclusion, as shown in Figure 3.1 (Yin 2010). After identifying the

research question and key issues with regards to e-menu system and software

development, a prototype of e-menu application was developed in the second phase

following the RAD approach to analyse, design, develop and evaluate the system (Khan

et al. 2011). Several data were collected and analysed in the conducting, analysis and

conclusion stages as below.

In the conducting stage, requirements were gathered at a selected restaurant by direct

observation of the service processes and interviews with related users, such as the

restaurant manager, waiting staff and chefs. Then, requirements were analysed to design

a database, class diagram, user interfaces, and new restaurant service processes. Lastly,

requirements were confirmed and a final prototype was developed, respectively.

Figure 3.1 - Research process and framework

(Yin 2010; Khan et al. 2011)

12

After the first prototype was developed and evaluated by users, feedback data was

collected by direct observation again in order to analyse and create a new prototype

version. As can be seen in Figure 3.1, the life cycle of developing the prototype was an

iterative process repeated until the users were satisfied. In this case study, the prototype

was demonstrated to the restaurant manager, waiting staff and chefs, whereas the

observation was performed throughout the whole development process.

In data analysis process, the approach for interpreting qualitative data was a content

analysis method. This method could analyse data for the objective and systematic

description of manifest content of communication. The content analysis method was an

effective technique that helped analyst reducing time and the effect of bias (Kohlbacher

2006).

In conclusion, collecting data by direct observation in their natural habitats was an

effective way to understand business processes and requirements, especially implicit

requirements. It was also an effective way for getting feedback about the prototype to

refine requirements so that it satisfies users (Sehlhorst 2006), whereas qualitative group

interview approach was a good method to capture the subjective comments of

participants and find out the perceptions of users (Blom 2006).

3.2 Case study methodology

This study was conducted an inductive research, which chose a non-probability or

convenience sampling, at a Thai casual dining restaurant in UK. This was because the

researcher is a Thai national, who is familiar with Thai food and the restaurant staff, and

has regularly dined at the restaurant for almost one year. Therefore, it allowed the

researcher to be convenient of contacting them to do this case study. Furthermore, the

methodology employed to accomplish the aim and research objectives in this research

was a case study approach. This was divided into four main stages: design, conduction,

analysis of the case study evidence, and the development of the conclusions and

implications (Yin 2010).

The case in this research was the development of an e-menu prototype at the chosen

restaurant. The type of research design was a single-case study with two analysis units,

which were the evaluation of the software development and users’ perceptions on the

prototype of e-menu application. The case study method was not only suitable for

conducting evaluation research, but was also appropriate for a descriptive question,

13

such as what or how. It was vastly better than the quantitative approach in terms of

providing holistic and in-depth explanations of the behavioural problems (Kemanusiaan

2007). However, Baxter and Jack (2008) claim that it can be extremely time-

consuming.

To conduct this case study, qualitative approaches by direct observation and the group

interview methods were selected to collect data.

Firstly, direct observation for requirement analysis is a straightforward activity that can

provide insight into the users and their tasks, whereas indirect observation by video

recording can create more distance between observers and users, and that by interviews

only can be difficult to clearly understand all problem areas (Kriwaczek 2006).

Secondly, although collecting data by a questionnaire method is cheap, convenient and

has no bias by an interviewer, evaluating users’ perceptions of the e-menu system by

group interviews enable an interviewer to make clear in narrative and unambiguous

questions (Flick 2009). It can also provide both detailed information and some

fascinating contextual or other information (Wisker 2008). The comparison among

observation, interview, and questionnaire methods are summarised as following table.

Data collection methods Group Interview Questionnaire Direct Observation

Data collection can be time-consuming. No Yes Yes

Data analysis can be time-consuming. Yes No Yes

Biased by researchers Yes No Yes

Complex questions can be explained. Yes No Yes

Personal contact involved Yes No Yes

High response rates likely Yes No Yes

Table 3.2 - Comparison among observation, interview and questionnaire

(Seale 2012; Flick 2009)

3.3 Software development methodology by RAD with prototyping

Regarding literature evaluation, Agile and Rapid Application Development (RAD) are

iterative software development methodologies to react to the problems with the

traditional waterfall methodology. Agile approach starts from analysis requirements and

design specifications, then directly to code and test software, whereas the RAD

approach uses a prototype to get feedback from customers in order to enhance the

14

prototype until the users are satisfied. This continuous feedback loop enables an RAD

prototype to correspond exactly with customer needs (Meso and Jain 2011).

RAD is appropriate for a small project, which has a shorter delivery time, but Agile is

suitable for a larger project (Khan et al. 2011). Furthermore, the RAD approach can

enhance the features of the prototype more rapidly to deliver a workable and

satisfactory system. However, using RAD with prototyping may make a system

inadequate for overall business needs if the system is accepted by only specific groups

of users (Hoffer, George and Valacich 2008).

This research proposed RAD as a development methodology to develop a prototype for

several reasons. Firstly, RAD is an incremental software development process model by

using customers’ feedback. Therefore, the quality of the prototype will be improved

throughout the life cycle as shown in Figure 3.2 (Sommerville 2004). Secondly, Hoffer,

George and Valacich (2008) point out that system developed by the RAD model both

spend shorter time and is closer to the business needs than that by the Agile and

traditional models. As a result, the prototype fulfilled requirements can be and

developed rapidly. Lastly, Gantthead (2010) mentions that RAD is more effective than

Agile for a narrow project scope with a small implementation team. Therefore, a

prototype which implements only some features by one person is more suitable for

implementation by RAD than Agile approach.

Figure 3.2 - Rapid Application Development (RAD) and prototyping

Adapted from Sommerville (2004)

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4. Findings and Discussion

This case study research selected a convenience sampling at a Thai casual dining

restaurant in the UK to do group interviews with ten waiting staff from a total sixteen

members, as shown in Table 4. In addition, Stopher (2012) mentions that convenience

samples can be used in exploratory research when the estimation of standard errors is

not important.

As can be seen in Figure 4, after the final prototype was demonstrated and the restaurant

staff interviewed, the final two potential outcomes, being the users’ perceptions on the

e-menu prototype and the recommendations with regards to the development of the e-

menu application, are summarised and discussed in the following sections.

Position heldNumber of

intervieweesTotal members

Data collection date

Restaurant manager 1 1 10 August 2012

Waiting staff 4 9 10 August 2012

Chefs 5 6 10 August 2012

Table 4 - Interview participant information

Figure 4 - Software development process and potential outcomes

4.1 Users’ perceptions of the e-menu prototype

16

As can be seen in Figure 4.1, after the interview questions were prepared (as shown in

Appendices 8.6) and the final e-menu prototype was demonstrated, the data was then

collected by group interviews with the restaurant manager, waiting staff and chefs to

analyse their users’ perceptions of the e-menu application and its features.

The majority of waiting staff suggested, similarly to the description of research domain

in the literature review, that using an e-menu was not only more convenient for their

customers, and themselves, but it could also improve customer service and reduce

human error. Moreover, a minority additionally mentioned that it was another way to

attract customers from innovative technology. Nevertheless, they raised three potential

issues that should be brought up, which were the high cost, the older people’s inability

to use system, and technical issues. The significant users’ perceptions on the e-menu

application are summarised and discussed as follows.

Figure 4.1 - Data collection process and users’ perceptions

17

4.1.1 Convenience

The most restaurant staff mentioned, correspondingly to Emenunyy (2012) in the

literature review, that an e-menu could enhance convenience for restaurant customers

because it provides full details of food and drinks clearly, such as menu description,

images and spice content. Therefore, it is easy for the customer to select their favourite

dishes. Furthermore, they are also comfortable to make additional orders and check the

status of their order without having to ask a waiter.

In terms of restaurant staff, as can be seen in Figure 4.1.1, the restaurant manager and

waiting staff similarly believed that an e-menu system would enable them to be more

efficient because the system would make it easy to revise the menu, add new

promotions, and sell seasonal dishes without having to reprint the menus.

Hence, development of an e-menu system should be thoroughly focused on these points

of view, and it is essential features, such as showing the details of dishes, ordering

additional items and checking the order status, these all need to be carefully considered

in the future development of an e-menu application.

18

Figure 4.1.1 - Users’ perceptions on convenience

19

4.1.2 Improving customer service

According to key knowledge in the literature review, Jenie (2011) mentions that e-menu

devices are not only used to display the list of food and beverages, but also to process

the restaurant services from ordering to payment. Comparatively, the majority of

restaurant staff agreed that an e-menu system could enhance customer service. For

example, the system enables restaurant customers to get their order faster because it is

unnecessary to wait for them to take their orders, and the orders are also transferred

directly to the kitchen and bar. In addition, the customers can instantly call for a waiter,

and request for bill and main dishes on e-menus. As a result, they don’t need to wait a

waiter, especially during a busy time.

Furthermore, the restaurant manager additionally mentioned that, during peak periods,

customers always look around to call a waiter to get services, such as ordering extra

drinks and making payment. Therefore, this system could enhance customer satisfaction

with regards to receiving their orders and having a quicker service.

To develop an e-menu application in the future, the features of requesting a waiter,

billing and main course, are essential functions for making the e-menu system to meet

business requirements.

20

Figure 4.1.2 - Users’ perceptions on improving customer service

21

4.1.3 Preventing human error

As the e-menu prototype was developed based on the basic process flow of a restaurant

system designed by Crowston, Rubleske and Howison (2006) to transfer information

from a dining table to the bar and kitchen, most chefs and restaurant manager similarly

believed that an e-menu system could reduce problems caused by human error. They

explained that, during the busy times, orders might be forgotten, especially extra drinks,

as waiters forget to pass the orders to the bar or kitchen.

Furthermore, poor handwriting, taking wrong orders and miscommunication between

waiters and chefs, or waiters and customers might be resulted in the preparation of

incorrect orders. These errors always cases dissatisfaction to the customers, and the

restaurant also loses both time and cost to reprepare those orders. The restaurant

manager commented that the e-menu system ensured that all orders of extra drinks were

transferred directly to the bar. It did not only reducing communication problems, but it

also enhanced customer satisfaction because the system could make sure that all extra

orders would be transferred precisely from customers to bar.

Figure 4.1.3 - Users’ perceptions on preventing human error

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4.1.4 E-menu issues

Although the e-menu system can bring several benefits, there are some significant

issues suggested by the majority of restaurant staff. Firstly, the e-menus are much more

expensive than traditional menus. A waiter illustrated that if a restaurant had one

hundred seats, and two seats required one iPad; the restaurant would have to invest in

fifty iPads, or approximately £20,000 (Apple no date). It was a huge budget compared

with using paper-based menus and labour costs. On the other hand, the restaurant

manager and some waiting staff members mentioned that e-menu system could boost

revenue from increasing customer numbers and the turnover rate, reducing labour costs,

and selling extra food and drinks. Ultimately, most interviewees were similarly

summarised that the restaurant must study the investment feasibility to estimate costs

and benefits before making a decision on the e-menu system.

Secondly, a minority of restaurant staff was concerned about when e-menus used by

older people. They suggested that the elderly people might not be familiar with ordering

on an electronic device. It could lead them to be dissatisfied in terms of service quality.

In contrast, the restaurant manager doubted that it was possible that many older people

might be familiar with iPads. For example, they were likely to buy iPad to read e-books.

According to recent research, tablet devices, such as iPad and Samsung Galaxy, become

more popular for elderly people. However, there is a limitation on their usability

especially if an application contains text of too small a size (Pattuelli and Rabina 2010).

Thirdly, with regards to an issue of decreasing personal contact referred in the literature

review, most restaurant members thought that an e-menu allowed restaurant customers

to call a waiter online. Therefore, it would be more convenient for customers to request

a waiter when they would like to obtain services, or ask about recommended dishes.

In summary, before making a decision upon the implementation of the e-menu system,

a restaurant must study investment feasibility to make sure that the budget invested

would sufficiently increase revenue and services. Furthermore, the development of an e-

menu application should take into account that older people are a significant issue, and

some of the solutions, such as making user guide, enlarging size of texts are required

features to support them. In addition, future research could directly interview older

customers to understand their points of view more clearly.

23

Figure 4.1.4 - Users’ perceptions on e-menu issues

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4.2 Recommendations of e-menu application development

The following paragraphs provide important recommendations in context of e-menu

application development, which is separated into four main sections: Software

development processes for e-menu application, System design of the e-menu system,

Cross-platform communication between .Net and iOS platforms and Model-View-

Controller (MVC) design for e-menu system.

4.2.1 Software development processes for e-menu application

To develop a restaurant e-menu application, RAD (Rapid Application Development),

prototyping and direct observation were effective approaches to deliver a prototype in

time and close to business needs. As can be seen in the below figure, the initial process

was started when the researcher went to a case study restaurant to discuss with a

restaurant manager to make a list of requirements. Then, several documents, such as

ER, use case, class and workflow diagrams were initially produced to develop the first

prototype in ASP.Net. After the prototype was presented, users’ feedback was collected

to refine list of requirements, system analysis and design documents and Web services.

Figure 4.2.1 - E-menu development process and technical system design

25

Next, the second or final prototype was developed by ASP.Net and Xcode. ASP.Net

was used to develop Web services and the back office website for restaurant staff,

whereas Xcode was used to develop the e-menu application for restaurant customers.

To present the final prototype, several digital artifacts were produced, such as video and

PowerPoint presentations, to present e-menu application, demonstrate software and

interview restaurant staff, respectively. Finally, users’ perceptions and

recommendations of e-menu development were produced in order to answer the

research question.

4.2.2 System design of the e-menu system

Figure 4.2.2 - System design of e-menu system

As can be seen in Figure 4.2.2, the e-menu system consists of three main components:

the physical database running on SQL server 2005, e-menu Web services and website

for restaurant staff running on ASP.Net platform developed by Visual studio 2012, and

iPad e-menu application running on iOS platform developed by Xcode. The system has

two main applications, namely e-menu application on iPad for customers and e-menu

website for restaurant staff. The main features of iPad e-menu are selecting menu

categories, showing details of food and drinks, confirming orders, checking order

statuses and requesting services, whereas the main functions of the e-menu website are

managing tables, and operating orders and service requests.

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4.2.3 Cross-platform communication between .Net and iOS platforms

Figure 4.2.3 - Cross-platform communication between .Net and iOS platforms

With regards to using Web services for cross-platform communication, the e-menu

application on iPad has to consume XML Web services as shown in the above figure.

Unfortunately, Xcode does not provide build-in functions to generate and parse XML

data in order to connect with Web services (Lee 2012). Therefore, the researcher had to

create the WebServiceManager class to generate and translate XML data. The purposes

of this class were to generate SOAP message for consuming Web services, and to

receive SOAP message from Web services and translate it into Xcode variables as

shown in Figure 4.2.3.

The researcher also developed the ServiceUtils class to combine all functions provided

by Web services, and to convert asynchronous to synchronous communication. As a

result, coding on Xcode for consuming Web services by view’s controllers was very

easy and encapsulated. For example, the view’s controller of the Listing Category

screen could use only one line to get a list of menu categories as shown below. The

ServiceUtils class was also an example of implementing an object-oriented concept to

enhance reusability and reduce complexity of e-menu application.

NSMutableArray *ArrMenuCategory = [ServiceUtils GetMenuCategory];

27

28

4.2.4 Model-View-Controller (MVC) design for e-menu system

Figure 4.2.4 - Model-View-Controller (MVC) design for e-menu system

MVC concept is an application design pattern, which can be applied in both ASP.Net

and iOS platforms. The MVC design in iOS framework helps developers to build

reusable and maintainable program components that can be updated independently (Ray

2012; Sadun 2009). Similarly, MVC pattern in terms of ASP.Net enables an application

to enhance testability, maintainability and flexibility (Microsoft ASP.Net Team 2009).

The e-menu prototype developed in this case study was also applied a MVC concept to

build the e-menu website in ASP.Net and application on iPad. As can be seen in Figure

4.2.4, the model components developed by ASP.Net is connected directly with the

physical database to provide Web services for iOS platform, whereas the model classes

in iOS platform takes responsibility to generate and translate SOAP messages for their

view’s controller.

With regards to this MVC design, it enables the e-menu application on iPad could

access the database through to model components in ASP.net platform. Furthermore,

some source codes of the iPad application for user interactions were encapsulated by

model components on .Net and iOS platforms.

29

30

5. Critical Reflection and Evaluation

This critical reflection and evaluation in this section critiques the inclusion of the

artifacts, and illustrates what had been learned as a result. It briefly indicates how the

researcher’s thinking has led to produce those artifacts and why they were included in

the portfolio (Crowther and Hill 2012).

5.1 Knowledge of the domain

During implementation of the e-menu prototype, the researcher gained plenty of

knowledge. This was not only obtained by researching various articles to write the

literature review, but also from whilst carrying out authentic tasks (Carraccio and

Englander 2004), such as designing a database and new restaurant system, creating an

application by ASP.Net and Web services, and developing a mobile application on iPad.

However, the literature review was an initial task to gain basic knowledge, as well as to

find a gap in the knowledge domain. After the key knowledge was critically evaluated,

it enabled the researcher to have sufficient background concept to make decisions and

carry out the research in a suitable direction. The mapping of key knowledge, objectives

and learning points are summarised as follows.

NoKey knowledgeof the domain

Objectives Learning points

1The current solutions of a restaurant e-menu system

To justify the most appropriatee-menu solution for a restaurant.

Understand the current use of e-menu systems, their benefits and drawbacks.

2 Restaurant service process

To use as basic knowledge for discussion and observation at the restaurant, and design a new process of e-menu application.

Understand basic restaurant service processes.

3Software usability and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI)

To study how to make good user interfaces to enhance software usability and quality.

Understand key factors to enhance HCI.

4Software development methodologies and prototyping technique

To investigate the most suitable approach to implement thee-menu prototype.

Understand strength and weakness of each software development methodology.

5Mobile application development for e-menu on iOS or Android devices

To find a better way to develop e-menu application for this case study.

Understand iOS and Android development, and how to use Web services with mobile app.

Table 5.1 - Mapping key knowledge, objectives and learning points

31

Firstly, as can be seen in Table 5.1, the current solutions of a restaurant e-menu system

helped the researcher and restaurant manager to justify an appropriate e-menu solution

for the restaurant. After existing e-menu systems, such as tablet e-menu, table side

touch screen e-menu, table top e-menu, and standalone e-menu for waiting area, were

studied and presented to the manager, he quickly understood the systems and decided

that a tablet e-menu solution was the most suitable for his restaurant.

Secondly, the restaurant service process enabled the researcher to understand a general

restaurant service process prior to discussion and observation at the restaurant to gather

requirements and analysis of the system. Although the basic restaurant process from the

literature review was different to the actual process at the case study restaurant, it was a

basic background to design a new e-menu system in an effective way.

Thirdly, the key knowledge of software usability and HCI let the researcher create user-

friendly interfaces of an e-menu application. The HCI principles were not only used to

design the e-menu application, they were also criteria to evaluate and improve the

prototype. Furthermore, the knowledge of software development methodology was an

essential factor in delivering the quality of the e-menu prototype in time and following

business requirements for this case study.

Lastly, learning about mobile development helped the understanding of the current

mobile technology, especially iOS and Android devices. Consequently, the chosen

solution of integrating Web services and mobile application could reduce complexity

and time for development of the e-menu prototype.

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5.2 Justification of the approaches

Although the key knowledge of several approaches had learned from writing the

literature review and justification of approaches, the researcher could obviously

emphasise the points about them after performing the practical tasks, such as direct

observation, group interviews, system design and the coding of an e-menu application.

There were several problems, which needed to be solved even though the research

framework and essential principles had been considered before starting the software

development stage. For example, as can be seen in Table 5.2, the majority of problems

of the chosen approaches were time-consuming. The researcher, however, had to find

additional tools, namely an action plan as shown in Appendices 8.1, to manage time for

both developing an e-menu prototype and producing research documents. Ultimately,

this dissertation was finished well on time, and the e-menu prototype was successfully

produced based on users’ requirements.

Furthermore, choosing the appropriate approaches and methods enabled the researcher

to underpin the dissertation work and create a portfolio in an effective way. The chosen

approaches, their potential, limitations and the learning points are summarised below.

No Approaches Potentials Limitations Learning points

1 Case StudyAppropriate for a

descriptive research question

Time-consumingUnderstanding of in-depth business requirements to

develop an e-menu.

2Rapid Application

Development (RAD) with prototyping

- The prototype fulfilled requirements and could develop quickly.- Quality of prototype was improved throughout the life cycle

May make the system inadequate for overall

business needs

Prototyping was an effective approach in gathering

implicit requirements and increasing customer

satisfaction.

3 Direct observationProvide an inside into

the users and their tasks

- Time-consuming- Disturb working of staff

Observation by working with users was an excellent way to understand existing problems

to develop a new system

4 Group interviews

- Make clear in any ambiguous question.- Able to get more additional requirements.

Time-consuming for data analysis

Direct interviews could help the researcher to make

additional recommendations of e-menu features for producing an e-menu

application in the future.Recommendations for future work research built on this current work

- Apply this case study to other places such as café, cafeteria or fast food restaurant.

- Use recommendations from group interviews to produce a real product of e-menu application.

Table 5.2 - Mapping approaches, their potentials, limitations and learning points

33

Initially, a case study approach was used as a core methodology for this research. In

terms of software development, the choosing of a pilot project at only one Thai dining

restaurant was an effective way to understand the system requirements, rather than to

gather information from several restaurants because it would take a much longer time to

discover the in-depth requirements.

Secondly, the RAD with a prototyping approach was an effective software development

tool that enabled the researcher to reduce time for implementation as well as to enhance

the features to meet the business needs quicker. Because some implicit requirements

could not be provided by stakeholders at the beginning; therefore, demonstration of the

e-menu prototype allowed the restaurant manager and staff to give more requirements to

fulfil business requirements. For example, a requirement gathered before developing the

prototype was selecting a menu category to order food and drinks. After the prototype

was presented, most restaurant staff agreed that the Drinks category should be put

before the Starter as can be seen in Figure 5.2. Furthermore, the RAD approach enabled

the developer to work closely with stakeholders when gathering requirements and

receiving feedbacks. Consequently, the final prototype could be developed more closely

with business needs.

Figure 5.2 - Example of an implicit requirement

34

Thirdly, direct observation was an effective way to analyse restaurant business

procedure. The researcher could work friendly with waiting staff and chefs to monitor

all processes at the restaurant. However, the direct observation method appeared to

disturb working staff. Therefore, the researcher decided to work as a waiter to get more

insight into the business processes. Eventually, the researcher could understand all

restaurant services processes in a short time in order to develop the prototype of e-menu

application.

Lastly, direct group interviews were also useful. They did not only help in the users’

understanding and perceptions, but they were also used for software evaluation. As a

result, several useful recommendations of e-the menu features were provided by

restaurant stakeholders, namely the restaurant manager, waiting staff and chefs, and the

researcher could take advantages of this to make recommendations, which could be

used by software development companies and practitioners who are interested in the

development of an e-menu application.

In conclusion, this case study was specific for only one types of restaurant. However, in

the real world, there are many kinds of eating places, which could use an e-menu

system for instance, cafés, bars, and fast-food restaurants. Therefore, further study could

apply some of the approaches used in this dissertation to carry out future research for

other kinds of restaurants.

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5.3 Overall reflective commentary with regards to research outcomes

The overall reflective commentary is a scholarly piece of writing that brings the

evidence together to make sense of individual items, and to evaluate the main processes

used and experienced whilst conducting this research to produce the artifacts and

research outcomes as shown in Appendices 8.3-8.5 (Crowther and Hill 2012). The

research processes for generating potential outcomes are critical evaluated as below.

5.3.1 System analysis and design documents

According to the literature review, software developed by the Rapid Application

Development (RAD) methodology with prototyping takes shorter time and becomes

closer to business requirements other methodologies (Hoffer, George and Valacich

2008). During development of the e-menu prototype, it was found that system analysis

and design documents could be developed quickly because an existing restaurant

system could be investigated effectively by discussion, direct observation and working

as a waiter, whereas collecting requirements without direct observation could make it

difficult to understand all obvious problem areas (Kriwaczek 2006). Ultimately, the

system analysis and design documents had been produced within two weeks to design a

database and develop e-menu application. Those documents are discussed as follows.

Firstly, a list of functional and non-functional requirements was initially produced to

confirm requirements with the restaurant manager and to design the e-menu system.

Secondly, an UML use case diagram was created to discuss with the manager to find

out who users were and what exactly they wanted? (Kendal 2011). Thirdly, an UML

class diagram was used to design the e-menu database and classes in ASP.Net. Revelle,

Gethers and Poshvanyk (2011) mentions that a class diagram is data model of object-

oriented design, which can enhance software quality. With regards to this process, the

researcher realised that the quality of e-menu software was greatly improved because

classes, which was designed based on object-orient concept, enabled software to be

easily maintained and developed. They contained reusable functions, which could

reduce the complexity of source code. Furthermore, ER-diagram was useful to model a

relational database. The details of primary keys, foreign keys and relationships enabled

the e-menu database to be able to prevent incorrect data being inserted into the database

(Connolly and Begg 2011). Finally, using workflow and process diagrams was an

effective way to discuss restaurant service processes with the restaurant manager. Those

36

diagrams helped the researcher more easily confirm requirements than using only verbal

discussion.

To sum up, the system analysis and design documents could be produced during the

observation process to gather system requirements and analyse the system. However,

direct observation appeared to disturb working staff. Therefore, working as a waiter was

a beneficial way to overcome this problem.

5.3.2 Prototype of e-menu application

In this research, two versions of the prototype were developed. The first version was

produced only in ASP.Net, whereas the final version was developed in ASP.Net and

Xcode. Howcroft and Carroll (2000) mention that the RAD prototype does not need to

be developed into the finished system unlike conventional prototyping methods. As can

be seen in the below figure, although the first version of e-menu prototype was

demonstrated to users on the website instead of iPad, it could also be used to get

feedback from them effectively. Developing in ASP.Net did not only enable the

researcher to save time to develop the e-menu application, but it also could be used to

test ASP.Net Web services before integrating with Xcode in the next stage.

Figure 5.3.2 - The first and final versions of the e-menu prototype

37

Furthermore, the final prototype was separated into three main components: the iPad e-

menu application developed for restaurant customers, the e-menu website created in

ASP.Net for restaurant staff, and ASP.Net Web services providing functionalities for

the iPad e-menu application. Moreover, slide and video presentations were produced to

present to restaurant staff before demonstrating the e-menu software. All of these were

used as a set of tools to collect data for the third and final outcomes, namely users’

perceptions and recommendations of e-menu application development.

5.3.3 Users’ perceptions on the prototype of e-menu application

After presenting the final prototype of the e-menu application and performing group

interviews at a case study restaurant, three main advantages of e-menu system and the

potential issues analysed from users’ perceptions as below;

Firstly, similar to knowledge in the literature review mentioned by Emenu USA (2011),

using e-menu application can enhance convenience for restaurant customers and staff.

The customers are easy to preview details of food, make additional order and check

status of their orders without having to ask a waiter. On the other hand, restaurant staff

is convenient to revise menu, add a new promotions and sell seasonal dishes without

having to reprint the paper-based menus.

Secondly, an e-menu system can increase customer service because the system allows

diners to order from their table, then that order is be transferred to the kitchen and bar

immediately (Crowston, Rubleske and Howison 2006). Moreover, using e-menu

enables dinners to be more satisfied because it can online call a waiter and request

billing. Therefore, this feature can reduce a problem of the delay in receiving the bill

and services, which causes of customer irritation (Gustafsson et al. 2006).

Thirdly, the e-menu system can reduce problems caused by human error, especially

during the busy times. As the system allows an order to be transferred online, it can

greatly reduce human error, such as a verbal miscommunication between staff and

dinners, or staff and chefs. Serving a wrong order is a risk of dissatisfaction because a

customer has to wait more time for cooking a new dish (Gustafsson et al. 2006).

Although using the e-menu is convenient, enhance customer service, and reduce human

error, there are significant issues, which should be considered when implementing a real

e-menu application. Initially, the cost of an e-menu system is very much higher than

that of a paper-based menu. Moreover, elderly people might not be comfortable using

38

an iPad e-menu. Lastly, additional significant features, which should be developed

when producing the real e-menu software, are support of multiple languages, ordering

by quantity, and providing an e-menu user’s guide.

5.3.4 Recommendations of e-menu application development

After the final prototype of an e-menu application was developed, it was found that

there were three interesting methods, which were mainly concerned in development of

an e-menu application.

Firstly, software development methodology is an essential factor to manage a successful

software project (Khan, Niazi and Ahmad 2009; Misra and Kumar 2009). As RAD

methodology was chosen to develop an e-menu prototype, it was found that the

software prototype could be developed in a short time to meet business needs. With

prototyping and direct observation techniques, several implicit requirements from users’

feedback were incrementally investigated to fulfil the requirements throughout the

development life-cycle. However, on-site observation could, and did, interrupt working

staff.

Moreover, using Web services was a good solution for cross-platform development. In

this project, Web services were not only used to communicate between the back office

website and iPad application, but they were created to support other platform devices,

such as Android devices, for use in the future. Nevertheless, coding in Xcode was

difficult when generating and parsing XML data to communicate with Web services

because Xcode did not provide built-in functions to connect with Web services as do

other languages, such as PHP, Java and .Net (Lee 2012).

Finally, MVC design pattern is useful in separating between business logic and user

interfaces (Ray 2012; ASP.Net Team 2009). The e-menu prototype was also designed

based on MVC concept. As a result, it allowed the researcher to maintain source codes

conveniently after additional requirements were added. It was because of changing the

user interfaces on the iPad application that it became less consequential to Web services

and business logic source codes. Furthermore, the source codes based on MVC pattern

were separately developed. Therefore, they were also very easy to test and rectify errors

found by users and the researcher. However, this method was quite time-consuming in

the early stages of development as it was necessary to complete programming Web

services before creating user interfaces in order to develop and test the prototype.

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6. Conclusion and Limitations

6.1 Conclusions

This dissertation employed a case study approach based on qualitative empirical

research at a Thai restaurant in the UK to answer the research question ‘how can a

prototype of an e-menu application be developed for the casual dining restaurant

industry to meet business requirements’. The purposes of this study were to identify the

key issues relating to development of an e-menu application, to investigate system

requirements and develop an e-menu prototype based on RAD methodology, to evaluate

users’ perceptions on e-menu, and to make recommendations with regards to e-menu

development. As a result, this research could be used to pursue four potential outcomes

as follows.

Firstly, during direct observation at a case study restaurant in UK, a list of business

requirements, UML use case and class diagrams, Entity-Relationship (ER), workflow

and process diagrams were produced to analyse and design the system, and to develop

the prototype of e-menu application.

Secondly, after the software development process, the prototype was developed and

separated into three main components: the iPad e-menu application developed for

restaurant customers, the e-menu website created in ASP.Net for restaurant staff, and

the ASP.Net Web services providing functionalities for the iPad e-menu application.

Furthermore, slide and video presentations were produced to present to the restaurant

manager and staff before demonstrating the e-menu software. All of these were used as

a set of tools to collect data for the last two outcomes, namely users’ perceptions, and

recommendations of e-menu application development.

Thirdly, with regards to users’ perceptions, the majority of restaurant staff believed that

using e-menu application would be more convenient for their customers and

themselves, enhance customer service, and reduce human error. However, they

suggested significant issues, which should be considered when developing a finished e-

menu application. For example, the cost of an e-menu system was very much higher

than that of paper-based menus, and elderly people might not be comfortable using iPad

e-menus. Furthermore, additional requirements were also suggested when producing an

e-menu system for the Thai restaurant, such as support of multiple languages, ordering

by quantity, and providing an e-menu user’s guide.

40

Finally, in terms of recommendations with regards to e-menu development, the

prototype was totally developed based on the knowledge domain studied. RAD

methodology with prototyping was an appropriate solution to develop an e-menu

application. It enabled the prototype’s features to be improved to meet business needs in

a short time. Moreover, direct observation was as an excellent approach to help the

researcher to understand obvious business requirements. However, this method did

appear to disturb some of the working staff. Furthermore, as the Web services were

developed in ASP.Net, it could not only reduce complexity and time for coding the iPad

application, but it could also be flexible when developing Android devices in the future.

Lastly, the Model-View-Controller (MVC) concept applied in this project could

enhance testability, maintainability and flexibility of the e-menu application.

6.2 Critical evaluation of learning experience

Throughout the experience of producing this dissertation portfolio, several lessons have

been learned. The following paragraphs evaluate learning experience from two different

aspects: the researcher and restaurant industry.

Firstly, throughout the process of research, the researchers have gained a lot of skills,

such as software development, project management, documentation, presentation and

communication, all of which will be useful in the future. Firstly, software development

was an important hard skill learned during development of the e-menu prototype. With

regards to programming skills, it was not only coding in Objective-C language for iPad,

but developing Web services and ASP.Net was also studied. Furthermore, my project

management skill had been improved to manage time and resources for this dissertation.

Lastly, the researcher had also obtained the soft skill of documentation, during creating

several documents, such as system analysis and design, user manual and formal written

documents, whereas presentation and communication skills have been learned whilst

gathering business requirements and presenting the prototype.

Secondly, in terms of restaurant industry, the restaurant manager and staff realised that

e-menu system was interesting and it could be more convenient for both restaurant

customers and staff, enhance customer service, reduce human error and attract a new

customer group. However, there are some issues, which should be considered before

implementing an e-menu system, such as the high cost of the system, the older people’s

inability to use system, and technical issues

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6.3 Limitations and recommendations for further research

Even though this dissertation could produce potential outcomes following the research

question, there were some limitations, which could be improved in future research. In

terms of the users’ perceptions of the e-menu system, this case study only interviewed

restaurant staff. However, there were some issues, which were brought up by the

interviewees, such as enhancing customer service and the use by elderly people.

Therefore, future research should carry out a case study based on this prototype to

examine exact perceptions from restaurant customers.

Furthermore, this research focused on developing e-menu only for iPad. Thus, future

research should apply system design and source codes in this portfolio to be developed

for other kinds of e-menu, for example, table side e-menu and stand-alone e-menu for a

waiting area. Moreover, implementation on another platform, such as Android or .Net,

is an alternative, which could be carried out in future research.

Finally, additional features suggested by restaurant staff, for instance, integration with

Point of Sale (PoS) system and the advertising of new promotions during meals, could

also be included in a new prototype, which should have more functionalities as well as a

study of users’ perceptions of those requirements.

6.4 Research contribution

Initially, a prototype of e-menu application, system analysis and design documents,

such as database design, use case, class diagrams, and feedback from development of

the e-menu prototype could be of benefit to software practitioners and developers who

are interested in software development, especially for mobile application, restaurant

system and RAD methodology. Furthermore, the prototype and system design

documents of this case study will be useful to produce the final product of an e-menu

system in the future.

In addition, the summary of users’ perceptions on using e-menu application can be

information for restaurant owners and people who would like to start a restaurant

business. It can help them to make decisions with regards to implementation of the e-

menu system to improve their service efficiency and customer satisfaction.

Furthermore, this case study also could generalise the result for other types of

restaurants, for instance, fast food restaurants, cafes and pubs, because most restaurants

use menus for ordering food and beverage as a basic function.

42

7. References

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AZILEN TECHNOLOGY (2011). Significance benefits and role of digital menu in restaurant. [online]. Last accessed 3 September 2012 at: http://www.articlesbase.com/business-opportunities-articles/significance-benefits-and-role-of-digital-menu-in-restaurant-4925002.html.

BAXTER, Pamela and JACK, Susan (2008). Qualitative Case Study Methodology: Study Design and Implementation for Novice Researchers. [online]. The Qualitative Report. 13(4), 544-559. Article from Nova South Eastern University last accessed 3 September 2012 at: http://www.nova.edu/ssss/QR/QR13-4/baxter.pdf.

BLOM, Martin (2006). Empirical Evaluations of Semantic Aspects in Software Development. [online]. Last accessed 3 September 2012 at: http://kau.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:6529/FULLTEXT01.

CARRACCIO, Carol and ENGLANDER, Robert (2004). Evaluating Competence Using a Portfolio: A Literature Review and Web-Based Application to the ACGME Competencies. Teaching and learning in medicine, 6 (14), 381-387.

CHEN, Ting-Han, LIN, Hsin-Hou and YEN, Yi-Di (2011). Mojo iCuisine: The design and implementation of an interactive restaurant tabletop menu. [online]. Human-computer Interaction, 6763, 185-194. Article from SpringerLink last accessed 3 September 2012 at: http://www.springerlink.com/content/m307510134401751/fulltext.pdf.

CHIRAG (2012). E-Menu. [online]. Last accessed 3 September 2012 at: http://e-menu-chr.blogspot.co.uk/2012_02_01_archive.html.

COBB, Charles G. (2011). Making Sense of Agile Project Management. New Jersey, John Wiley & Sons.

CONCEPTIC (no date). iPad eMenu for restaurant. [online]. Last accessed 3 September 2012 at: http://www.emenu-international.com/iPad-menu-for-restaurants.

CROWSTON, Kevin, RUBLESKE, Joseph and HOWISON, James (2006). Coordination Theory: A Ten-Year Retrospective. [online]. Last accessed 3 September 2012 at: http://crowston.syr.edu/system/files/CT%20Review%20to%20distribute.pdf.

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CROWTHER, Paul and HILL, Richard (2012). Dissertation by portfolio-an alternative to the traditional thesis. Student engagement and experience journal, 1 (2), 1-12.

DUFFY, Thomas J. (2011). Programming with mobile application: Androidtm, iOS, and Windows® Phone 7. Boston, USA, Cengage Learning.

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EMENU USA (2011). eMenu Pictures. [online]. Last accessed 3 September 2012 at: http://www.emenuny.com/pictures.html.

EMENUNYY (2012). Restaurant menu software ‘eMenu’ Ready to wave goodbye to traditional paper menus. [online]. Last accessed 3 September 2012 at: http://your-story.org/restaurant-menu-software-emenu-ready-to-wave-goodbye-to-traditional-paper-menus-298620.

FLICK, Uwe (2009). An introduction to qualitative research. 4th ed., London, SAGE Publications.

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GOSSWEILER, Rich, et al. (2011). Argos: Building a Web-Centric Application Platform on Top of Android. IEEE Pervasive Computing, 10 (4), 10-14.

GULATI, Anubha and DUBEY, Sanjay Kumar (2012). Critical Analysis on Usability Evaluation Techniques. [online]. International Journal of Engineering Science and Technology (IJEST), 4(3), 990-997. Article from IJEST last accessed 3 September 2012 at: http://www.ijest.info/docs/IJEST12-04-03-118.pdf.

GUSTAFSSON, Inga-Britt, et al. (2006). The five aspects meal model: A tool for developing meal services in restaurants. Journal of food service, 17 (2), 84-93.

HANAFIAH, Mastura (2007). Suit-method: A tool for finding suitable software development methodology. The London School of Economics and Political Science. [online]. Last accessed 3 September 2012 at: http://csrc.lse.ac.uk/asp/aspecis/20000053.pdf.

44

HOFFER, Jeffrey A., GEORGE, Joey F. and VALACICH, Joseph (2008). Modern systems analysis and design. 5th ed., USA, Pearson Education.

HOWCROFT, Debra and CARROLL, John (2000). A proposed methodology for web development. In: Proceedings of the European Conference on Information Systems, 290-297. [online]. Article from IJEST last accessed 4 September 2012 at: http://www.ijest.info/docs/IJEST12-04-03-118.pdf.

HUSSAIN, Zahid, et al. (2012). Practical Usability in XP Software Development Processes. In: The Fifth International Conference on Advances in Computer-Human Interactions, Spain, 30 January 2012. Valencia, IARIA, 208-217. Article from Think mind last accessed 3 September 2012 at: http://www.thinkmind.org/index.php?view=article&articleid=achi_2012_8_50_20217.

JENIE, Renan Prasta, et al. (2011). Designing user interface e-menu based on Android platform. [online]. Last accessed 3 September 2012 at: http://ict.binus.edu/metamorph/file/research/Journal%20-%20Android%20Komodo%202.pdf.

KEMANUSIAAN, Jurnal (2007). Case study as a research method. [online]. Last accessed 3 September 2012 at: http://eprints.utm.my/8221/1/ZZainal2007-Case_study_as_a_Research.pdf.

KENDALL, Kenneth E. and KENDALL, Julie E (2011). Systems analysis and design. 8th ed., USA, Pearson Education.

KHAN, Asif Irshad, et al. (2011). Comprehensive study of commonly practiced heavy and light weight software methodologies. [online]. International Journal of Computer Science, 8(4), 441-450. Article from TechRepublic last accessed 3 September 2012 at: http://www.techrepublic.com/whitepapers/a-comprehensive-study-of-commonly-practiced-heavy-and-light-weight-software-methodologies/3809811/post.

KHAN, Siffat Ullah, NIAZI, Mahmood and AHMAD, Rashid (2009). Critical success factors for offshore software development outsourcing vendors: A systematic literature review. In: Global Software Engineering, 2009. ICGSE 2009. Fourth IEEE International Conference, IEEE, 207-216.

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KRIWACZEK, Frank (2006). HCI: Requirements Analysis. [online]. Last accessed 3 September 2012 at: http://www.doc.ic.ac.uk/~frk/frank/da/hci/Requirements%20Analysis%20handout.pdf.

LEE, Wei-Meng (2012). Beginning iOS 5 Application Development. Canada, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

45

MAJID, Rogayah Abd, et al. (2011). Users’ frustration and HCI in the software development life cycle. [online]. International Journal of Information Processing and Management, 2 (1.5), 44-48. Article from Research Gate last accessed 3 September 2012 at: http://www.researchgate.net/publication/228823317_Users'_Frustration_and_HCI_in_the_Software_Development_Life_Cycle.

MESO, Peter, JAIN, Radhika (2006). Agile Software Development: Adaptive Systems Principles and Best Practices. [online]. Information Systems Management, 23(3), 19-30. Article from ISM Journal last accessed 3 September 2012 at: http://www.ism-

journal.com/ITToday/93704.pdf.

MICROSOFT ASP.NET TEAM (2009). ASP.NET MVC Overview. [online]. Last accessed 9 August 2012 at: http://www.asp.net/mvc/tutorials/older-versions/overview/asp-net-mvc-overview.

MISRA, Subhas Chandra, KUMAR, Vinod and KUMAR, Uma (2009). Identifying some important success factors in adopting agile software development practices. Journal of systems and software, 82 (11), 1869-1890.

NIELSEN, Jakob (1993). Usability Engineering. San Francisco, Morgan Kaufmann.

NORMAN, Donald A. and NIELSEN, Jakob (2010). Gestural interfaces: A step backward in usability. Interactions, 17 (5), 46-49.

PATTUELLI, M. Cristina and RABINA, Debbie (2010). Forms, effects, function: LIS students' attitudes towards portable e-book readers. [online]. In: Aslib Proceedings, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 228-244. Article from WordPress last accessed 3 September 2012 at: http://cpattuelli.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/pattuelli_rabiba_aslib-2010.pdf.

RAY, John (2012). iOS 5 Application Development in 24 Hours. USA, SAMS.

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SEHLHORST, Scott (2006). Ten Requirements Gathering Techniques. [online]. Last accessed 3 September 2012 at: http://tynerblain.com/blog/2006/11/21/ten-requirements-gathering-techniques.

SHACKLES, Greg (2012). Mobile Development with C#. USA, O'Reilly Media, Inc.

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STOPHER, Peter (2012). Collecting, managing, and assessing data using sample surveys. Cambridge, UK, Cambridge University Press.

46

STUDENTWEBSTAFF (2009). Use of E-Menus in the Restaurant Industry. [online]. Last accessed 3 September 2012 at: http://www.studentwebstuff.com/mis/showthread.php?t=8049.

TRACY, Kim (2012). Mobile application development experiences on apple's iOS and android OS. IEEE potentials, 31 (4), 30-34.

UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD (no date). Project and dissertation. [online]. Last accessed 3 September 2012 at: http://www.cs.ox.ac.uk/softeng/handbook/projects.html.

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YIN, Robert K. (2010). Application of case study research. 3rd ed., London, SAGE Publications.

47

8. Appendices

8.1 Project Plan

To deliver a quality of dissertation by portfolio artifacts, a final e-menu prototype and

software development documents on time, based on business needs, and with high

customer satisfaction. The dissertation action plan and the Gantt chart of project

milestones were created in the beginning phase and had updated throughout the

development process as shown in following figures.

Figure 8.1.1 - The initial and last updated action plan for dissertation

48

Figure 8.1.2 - Gantt chart of project milestones

49

8.2 Summary of activities at the case study restaurant

No Date Time Activities

1 29-Jun-12 14.00 - 16.00 Discussing and observing with the restaurant manager#1

2 06-Jul-12 14.00 - 17.00Discussing and observing with the restaurant manager and waiting staff#2

3 12-Jul-12 18.00 - 23.00Discussing and observing with the restaurant manager and waiting staff#3

4 20-Jul-12

14.00-16.30Presenting the first prototype and getting feedback from restaurant manager

18.00 - 23.00 Observation by working as a waiter at the restaurant

5 10-Aug

15.00-16.00 Presenting the final prototype

16.30 - 23.30

Interviewing the restaurant manager, waiting staff and chefs

Final observing with the restaurant manager, waiting staff and chefs#4

Main activities: Observation, discussion, presentation, getting feedback and interviews

Table 8.2 - Summary of activities at the case study restaurant

50

8.3 Portfolio navigator

Figure 8.3.1 - Evidence collected for the dissertation portfolio

51

Figure 8.3.2 - The artifact outcomes for the dissertation portfolio

52

8.4 Table of content of individual pieces of evidence

No Group Pieces of evidence Format Description File Path in CD

1Written

document Written document MS Word

Justifications of the approaches, findings and

discussion, critical reflection and evaluation, and

conclusion and limitations

20_DISSERTATION_WORD\01_DISSERTATION.docx

2Project

Plan Project PlanMS

PowerPoint

The detailed plan for conducting this research

including the plan of software development and

documentation

01_PROJECT_PLAN\02_PROJECT_PLAN11AUG12.pptx

3 OverviewOverview of the

dissertation portfolio

MS PowerPoin

t

It includes the research question, framework,

navigator, outcome, system design, MVC design and

interview process.

70_OVERVIEW_DOCUMENTS\O1_RESEARCH_OVERVIEW.pptx

4 Overview

Overview of the evidence

collected for the dissertation by

portfolio

MS ExcelList of portfolio evidence

collected for the dissertation by Portfolio

02_POFFOLIO_EVIDENCE_6SEP12.xlsx

5 Navigator Portfolio navigatorMS

PowerPoint

This file makes it easy to navigate pieces of evidence

sequentially.

01_PORTFOLIO_NAVIGATOR_6SEP12.pptx

6 Navigator The artifact outcomes

MS PowerPoin

t

This file makes it easy to navigate the artifact

outcomes. It is a part of portfolio navigator.

03_OUTCOME_NAVIGATOR.pptx

7 NavigatorTable of content

of individual pieces of evidence

MS ExcelTable of content of individual pieces of

evidence (This document)

00_TABLE_OF_CONTENT_PIECES_OF_EVIDENCE.xlsx

8 Overview E-menu website Internet Link

This website includes the first and final prototype, some pieces of evidence.

www.innoemenu.com

9

Analysis and

design document

Summary of system analysis

and design documents

MS PowerPoin

t

This presentation includes all system analysis and

design documents.

10_ANALYSIS_DESIGN_DOC\A1_ANALYSIS_DESIGN.pptx

10

Analysis and

design document

UML use case diagram

MS Visio UML Use case diagram in MS Visio file

10_ANALYSIS_DESIGN_DOC\B1_USECASE_DIAGRAM.vsd

11

Analysis and

design document

UML class diagram

MS Visio UML class diagram in MS Visio file

10_ANALYSIS_DESIGN_DOC\B2_CLASS_DIAGRAM.vsd

12

Analysis and

design document

ER diagram MS Visio ER diagram in MS Visio file 10_ANALYSIS_DESIGN_DOC\B3_ER_DIAGRAM.vsd

13

Analysis and

design document

Workflow diagram MS Visio Workflow diagram in MS Visio file

10_ANALYSIS_DESIGN_DOC\B4_EMENU_PROCESS.vsd

14

E-menu Prototype The first prototype

Internet Link

This website is process simulation on iPad

application, which would be used by restaurant

customers.

http://aces-web.aces.shu.ac.uk/students/b0043132/03_emenu/

02_ORDER/01_SearchOrder.aspx

15

E-menu Prototype

The final prototype of e-

menu web application

Internet Link

This website is used by restaurant staff to manage tables, orders and services.

http://aces-web.aces.shu.ac.uk/students/b0043132/03_emenu/

Default.aspx

16

Source code and

DB

How to install and test e-menu application

MS PowerPoin

t

This file explains how to install e-menu applications

to test features on your computer and iPad

11_SOURCE_CODE_AND_DB\00_HOW_TO_TEST_APP.pptx

17

Source code and

DB

ASP.Net Source code

Project folder

Set of source code files in ASP.Net

11_SOURCE_CODE_AND_DB\10_SOURCE_CODE_DOTNET

18

Source code and

DBE-menu Database

SQL database

filesSQL Server files 11_SOURCE_CODE_AND_DB\

11_DATABASE

19

Source code and

DB

E-menu Source code in Xcode

Project folder

Set of source code files in Xcode project

developed for iPad application.

11_SOURCE_CODE_AND_DB\01_SOURCE_CODE_XCODE

53

20

Annotation

Annotation of Knowledge of the

domain

MS PowerPoin

t

Annotation of Knowledge of the domain

21_ANNOTATION\A1_ANNOTATION_KNOWLEDGE.ppt

x

Table 8.4 - Table of content of individual pieces of evidence

No Group Pieces of evidence Format Description File Path in CD

21

Annotation

Annotation of justifications of the

approaches

MS PowerPoi

nt

Annotation of justifications of the approaches

21_ANNOTATION\A2_ANNOTATION_APPROACH.pptx

22 Outcome

Overview of description of research and discussion of

outcomes

MS PowerPoi

nt

Overview of description of research and discussion of

outcomes

22_DESCRIPTION_OUTCOME\D1_RESEARCH_DESC_AND_OUTCO

ME.pptx

23

Outcome

Users’ perceptions of the e-menu

prototype on e-menu features

MS PowerPoi

nt

Users’ perceptions of the e-menu prototype on e-

menu features

22_DESCRIPTION_OUTCOME\D2_USERS_PERCEPTIONS_FEATURE

S.pptx

24

Outcome Users’ perceptions of e-menu system

MS PowerPoi

nt

Users’ perceptions of e-menu system

22_DESCRIPTION_OUTCOME\D3_USERS_PERCEPTIONS_EMENU.p

ptx

25

OutcomeRecommendations

regarding to e-menu development

MS PowerPoi

nt

Recommendations regarding to e-menu

development

22_DESCRIPTION_OUTCOME\D4_RECOMMENDATION_EMENU_DE

VELOPMENT.pptx

26

Prototype Presentati

on

E-menu functionalities on

iPad

MS PowerPoi

nt

E-menu functionalities on iPad

40_PRESENT_PROTOTYPE_POWERPOINT\

A21_FUNCTIONS_ON_IPAD.pptx

27

Prototype Presentati

on

E-menu functionalities on

website for restaurant staff

MS PowerPoi

nt

E-menu functionalities on website for restaurant staff

40_PRESENT_PROTOTYPE_POWERPOINT\

A30_FUNCTIONS_ON_WEB.pptx

28

Prototype Presentati

on

E-menu functionalities on

iPad for testing the prototype

MS PowerPoi

nt

E-menu functionalities on iPad for testing the

prototype

40_PRESENT_PROTOTYPE_POWERPOINT\

T01_TEST_FUNCTIONAL_REQUIREMENTS.pptx

29

Prototype Presentati

on

Overview of e-menu application

Video file (mp4)

Overview of e-menu application

41_PRESENT_PROTOTYPE_VIDEO\01_DEMO_OVERVIEW_EMENU.mp4

(Version 2)

30

Prototype Presentati

on

Demonstrate e-menu application

on iPad for restaurant customer

Video file (mp4)

Demonstrate e-menu application on iPad for restaurant customer

41_PRESENT_PROTOTYPE_VIDEO\02_DEMO_DETAILS_EMENU.mp4

31

Prototype Presentati

on

Demonstrate e-menu application

on website for restaurant staff

Video file (mp4)

Demonstrate e-menu application on website for

restaurant staff

41_PRESENT_PROTOTYPE_VIDEO\03_DEMO_EMENU_WEB_FOR_STAF

F.mp4

32

Prototype Presentati

on

Innovative e-menu and benefits

Video file (mp4)

Innovative e-menu and benefits

41_PRESENT_PROTOTYPE_VIDEO\04_DEMO_EMENU_BENEFITS.mp4

33

Prototype Presentati

on

Overview of e-menu Application

YouTube Link

Same as the above video file. It can use if you

cannot open the above video file

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jretESx_q4

34

Prototype Presentati

on

Demonstrate e-menu application

on iPad for restaurant customer

YouTube Link

Same as the above video file. It can use if you

cannot open the above video file

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCsFiMHuG80

35

Prototype Presentati

on

Demonstrate e-menu application

on website for restaurant staff

YouTube Link

Same as the above video file. It can use if you

cannot open the above video file

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSqTJ5acxzw

36

Prototype Presentati

on

Innovative e-menu and benefits

YouTube Link

Same as the above video file. It can use if you

cannot open the above video file

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cBTICTa7bE

37

Conclusion Wrap Around Conclusion

MS PowerPoi

nt

Summary of this dissertation portfolio

50_CONCLUSION\10_WRAP_AROUND_CONCLUSION.

pptx

38

Support evidence

Research ethics checklist

PDF A copy of research ethics checklist

02_SCANNED_DOC\01_ACES Ethics_Checklist_18Aug12.doc

39

Support evidence

Permission letter with restaurant

PDFPermission letter and

approval from the case study restaurant

02_SCANNED_DOC\02_Permission_Letter_Restaurant_

30Jun12.pdf

40

Support evidence

Dissertation key dates form

MS WordDissertation key dates

form to create plan for the supervisor

01_PROJECT_PLAN\01_KEYDATE_6JUN12.doc

54

41

Support evidence

Research proposal PDF Research proposal81_ALL_PDF\03_PROPOSAL\

RESEARCH_PROPOSAL_26APR12.pdf

42

Support evidence

Interview voices (English and Thai)

Audio file (m4a)

Interview voices (English and Thai)

31_INTERVIEW_VOICES

43

Support evidence

Some pictures of observation and

interview process

Image files

Some pictures of observation and interview

process32_INTERVIEW_PICTURES

44

References

List of referencesMS

PowerPoint

List of references including both written documents

and all presentation documents

60_REFERENCES\R01_ALL_REFERENCES.pptx

Table 8.4 - Table of content of individual pieces of evidence

55

8.5 Overview of evidence collected for the dissertation portfolio

No

Evidence

presented

Artifact Annotation Critical Reflection

Description Presentation format

Description Presentation format

Description Presentation format

1

Knowledge of

the domain

Written literature review

(1,699 words)

MS Word

(20_DISSERTATION_WORD/01_DISSERTATION.docx Page 4-10)

Annotation of key

knowledge learnt from this project

MS PowerPoint

(21_ANNOTATION/A1_ANNOTATION_KNOWLEDGE.pp

tx)

Written critical

reflection

(556 words)

MS Word

(20_DISSERTATION_WORD/01_DISSERTATIO

N.docx Page 27-

28)

2

Justifications of

the approac

hes

Written justifications of approaches

(1,343 words)

MS Word

(20_DISSERTATION_WORD/01_Dissertation.docx

Page 11-15)

Comparison of important approaches justified in this project

MS PowerPoint

(21_ANNOTATION/A2_ANNOTATION_APPROACH.pptx

)

Written critical

reflection

(816 words)

MS Word

(20_DISSERTATION_WORD/01_DISSERTATIO

N.docx Page 29-

31)

3

Description of the

research and

discussion of the

outcomes

System analysis and design documents:- List of requirements- UML Use case diagram- UML Class diagram- ER diagram- Workflow diagrams- Process diagrams

MS PowerPoint (10_ANALYSIS_DESIGN_DOC/A1_ANALYSIS_DESIGN

.pptx) and

MS Visio files

(Folder: 10_ANALYSIS_DESIGN_DO

C)

Overview of description

of research & discussion of

outcomes

MS PowerPoint

(22_DESCRIPTION_OUTCO

ME\D1_RESEARCH_DESC_AND_OUTCOME.p

ptx)

Written critical

reflection

(2,100 words of Findings

and Discussion)

MS Word

(20_DISSERTATION_WORD/01_DISSERTATIO

N.docx Page 16-

26)

Presentation Prototype- E-menu functionalities on iPad- E-menu functionalities on website for restaurant staff- E-menu functionalities on iPad for testing requirements

MS PowerPointFolder: 40_PRESENT_PROTOTYPE_POWERPOINT

Users' perceptions

on the e-menu

prototype in context of its

features

MS PowerPoint

(D2_USERS_PERCEPTIONS_FEATURES.p

ptx)

 Written critical

reflection(1,352 words

of Overall reflective

commentary and

discussion of research

outcomes )

 MS Word

(20_DISSERTATION_WORD/01_DISSERTATIO

N.docx Page 32-

35)

Website- E-menu website for restaurant staff- E-menu website (the first prototype)- E-menu Web service- E-menu navigator

Links of website: Main website: www.innoemenu.com

Users' perceptions on e-menu

system

MS PowerPoint

(D3_USERS_PERCEPTIONS_EMENU.pptx

)

The prototype of E-menu system- Manual to install & test e-menu applications- Over 6,000 lines of source code (Xcode)- Over 10,000 lines of Source code (.NET)- Database (SQL Server)

Source code & DB FilesFolder: 11_SOURCE_CODE_AND_DB

Recommendations

regarding to e-menu

development

MS PowerPoint

(D4_RECOMMENDATION_EMENU_DEVELOPMENT.p

ptx)

Video presentations- Overview of e-menu Application- Demo e-menu application on iPad for restaurant customer- Demo e-menu application on website for restaurant staff- Innovative e-menu and benefits

Video Format:Folder: 41_PRESENT_PROTOTYPE_VIDEO

4 Reflection commentary:MS Word (20_DISSERTATION_WORD/01_DISSERTATION.docx, Page 36-38)MS PowerPoint (50_CONCLUSION\10_WRAP_AROUND_CONCLUSION.pptx)

56

5Navigation structure

(contents/index):Portfolio navigator (01_PORTFOLIO_NAVIGATOR_6SEP12.pptx)

Table of content (00_TABLE_OF_CONTENT_PIECES_OF_EVIDENCE.xlsx)

6

A matrix that relates the assessment criteria to each piece of

evidence (which may be incorporated in the contents)

This document (02_POFFOLIO_EVIDENCE_6SEP12.xlsx)

Table 8.5 - Overview of evidence collected for the dissertation portfolio

8.6 List of interview questions

Have you seen an e-menu before? When? How?

Have you used an e-menu before? When? How?

Can an e-menu help you understand more details of food and drinks?

Do you think that an e-menu makes it easier to order extra food and drinks

whilst dinning?

Do you think that an e-menu makes it easy to request extra services e.g. call

waiter, main course and billing?

Do you prefer ordering by e-menu or by waiter in this kind of restaurant?

Does an e-menu reduce personal contact between customer and restaurant

staff?

What are main benefits of an e-menu in your opinion?

What are main issues if implemented in this restaurant?

What are the important features that an e-menu that should be provided?

Does the demonstrated software have some good points in terms of software

features? And if so, what are they?

What do you think about the e-menu prototype?

o Feedback (Easy to return to previous screen)

o Memorability (Easy to remember how to use it the next time)

o Learnability (Easy to use and understand without user manual)

o Efficiency (Easy to perform tasks)

o Satisfaction (Pleasant to use software)

57

8.7 A copy of the letter of agreement with the restaurant

Figure 8.7 - A copy of the letter of agreement with the restaurant

58

8.8 A copy of research ethics checklist

Figure 8.8 - A copy of research ethics checklist

59

Figure 8.8 - A copy of research ethics checklist

60

8.9 Research Proposal

A Development of Electronic Menu (E-menu) Application

for Restaurant on iPad

1. Introduction

Development of technology enables people to become more comfortable in most

areas of our lives. The restaurant industry is an area which has remained behind the

technical advances until recently, when the electronic menu (e-menu) started being

used to improve catering services and increase revenue. Nowadays, the e-menu is

becoming popular and changing the concept of food ordering by paper-based

menus. As can be seen in figure 1, restaurant customers are able to view the items

listed on the menu as well as being able to order directly from tablets or touch-

screen monitors located on tables, which offer customers a full range of ordering

choices (Azilen 2011).

This research will conduct an inductive approach by case study methodology at a

Thai restaurant to develop a software prototype and evaluate users’ perceptions.

This research will employ qualitative methods, such as passive observation to gather

system requirements and test the prototype, and group interviews to evaluate users’

perceptions. To conduct this research, this paper proposes research design divided

into six main sections: Research question and objectives, Critical evaluation of

literature, Research methods, tools and techniques, Research process, Potential

outcomes, and Issues of access and ethics.

Fig. 1 - E-menu on iPad tablet (Conceptic no date)

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2. Research question and objectives

The aim of this research is to study that how to develop e-menu application for

casual restaurants to meet their business requirements. The research question,

objectives and limitations of research are summarised below.

2.1 Research question

How can a prototype of an electronic menu (e-menu) application be developed for

the casual dining restaurant industry to meet business requirements?

2.2 Research objectives

1. To identify the key issues relating to the development of an e-menu

application for the casual restaurant industry.

2. To investigate the system requirements, and analyse, design and develop an

e-menu prototype to meet business needs.

3. To evaluate users’ perceptions on the final prototype of the e-menu

application from stakeholders such as restaurant customers, owners and

waiting staff.

4. To make recommendations with regards to the development of the e-menu

application based on chosen software development methodology.

The first objective begins with the critical evaluation the range of literature to find

out the potential issues relating to the development of the e-menu application, such

as the current use of paper-based menus and e-menus at restaurants, and the

software development methodology.

The second objective is to gather system requirements to design and develop the e-

menu prototype, and produce software development documents. In addition, to

delivering software to meet business needs, Hanafiah (2007) suggests that the

software development approach should be compatible with customer requirements,

project team and time of implementation.

The third and final objectives are focused on data collection and analysis. Group

interviews will be used for data collection to analyse users’ perceptions, which are

expected to answer the research question in terms of developing an e-menu

application to meet business requirements, whereas the software development

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processes will be reflected to make recommendations with regards to the

development of the e-menu application to meet business needs.

2.3 Limitations of research

The proposed dissertation is a product-based project involving the application of

software engineering techniques to analyse, design, and develop of a piece of

software (University of Oxford no date). The software prototype for this research

includes only some specific features such as ordering food and beverages,

previewing order information, calling for services, and transferring information to

the kitchen. Therefore, other functions, for instance, booking, billing and

integrating with a point of sale (POS) system, are excluded in this project.

3. Critical evaluation of literature

This critical evaluation explores potential information to identify current knowledge

and key issues relating to development of a prototype of an e-menu application for

the casual restaurant industry, which are divided into four sections: E-menu for

restaurants, Restaurant service processes, Software usability and human-computer

interaction (HCI), and Software development methodology and prototyping

techniques.

3.1 Electronic menu (e-menu) for restaurants

The e-menu system is a new technology for restaurant ordering solutions. The

system includes touch-screen devices installed with a piece of software to show a

restaurant menu with actual photos of the dishes (Emenunyy 2012). The touch-

screen devices are not only used to display the list of food and beverages, but also to

process the restaurant services, from ordering to payment (Jenie 2011). In general,

an e-menu is used in three different ways: tablet menu, table side touch screen menu

and a touch screen menu for waiting areas, as shown in figure 2 (Emenu USA 2011;

Conceptic no date). However, Chen, Lin, and Yen (2011) indicate that interactive

restaurant tabletop menus can also be implemented by using interactive surface

technology to enlarge the size of menus and increase customer attraction.

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Fig. 2 - E-menu (Emenu USA 2011; Conceptic no date)

3.2 Restaurant service process

To investigate requirements of a restaurant system, logistics and information flows

are of importance to analyse the system. As can be seen in figure 3, the dotted lines

show that a customer has to wait for a waitress in order to give the order and make

payment. Therefore, these processes can be greatly improved by using an e-menu

system (Crowston, Rubleske and Howison 2006). Furthermore, e-menu enables

information to be sent directly from a table to the bar or kitchen. Although, the e-

menu system can bring several benefits, enhance the dining experience, increases

restaurant revenue, and reduces waiting time (Chirag 2012), they are much more

expensive than printed menus, and tend to decrease personal contact between

customers and waiting staff (Studentwebstuff 2009).

Fig. 3 - Basic process flow diagram of restaurant system

(Crowston, Rubleske and Howison 2006)

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3.3 Software usability and human-computer interaction (HCI)

In a software engineering perspective, the usability has been recognised as an

essential key factor to evaluate software quality (Gulati and Dubey 2012). Majid

(2011) similarly describes that effectiveness of software can be measured based on

its usability in terms of a HCI design and users' experience in using the software.

Therefore, consideration of HCI is an essential factor in delivering high usability

software following business needs.

In addition, because HCI deals with the way that people interact with information on

electronic devices, a HCI design should help non-IT proficient users to use the

software without specialised IT knowledge (Edexcel 2010). For example, effective

graphical user interfaces (GUIs) on e-menus should be easy to use without a user

manual. Therefore, to answer the research question, HCI design should be

considered and evaluated by both users and developers in all development processes

to produce the quality of the software prototype (Adikari 2009).

However, Hussain et al. (2012) and (Gulati and Dubey 2012) similarly suggest that

successful software development is not only associated with HCI and software

usability, but is also dependent on how software development processes fit solutions

into problem areas required by customers or businesses. The software development

methodology is reviewed in the following paragraph.

3.4 Software development methodologies and prototyping technique

There are several methodologies for software development to meet customer

requirements, e.g. waterfall, Agile and RAD (Rapid Application Development). The

waterfall model is a traditional approach which clearly separates development

projects into four separate stages: analysis, design, implementation and testing

(Khan et al. 2011). Although the waterfall model is an effective way to control

deadlines and outcomes in each process, it has a high cost when requirements are

changed. On the other hand, the Agile and RAD approaches are more flexible to

change requirements at any stage. With an iterative process, the requirements are

fulfilled to increase customer satisfaction (Hoffer, George and Valacich 2008).

Prototyping is an effective development technique that allows analysts to know how

users react to work with the prototype and how good the fit is between their needs

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and the prototyped features (Kendall 2011). In addition, after the analysts get the

users’ feedback, they then make a new version to test with users again. This iterative

process continues so that users are relatively satisfied. Therefore, the final product

can be developed in a short time following the customer requirements (Hoffer,

George and Valacich 2008). However, Khan et al. (2011) claims that the RAD

approach with prototyping concentrates mainly on experimenting with the customer

needs. It may results in insufficiently understanding of the overall business

requirements.

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4. Research methods, tools and techniques

The objectives of this section are to describe selected research methodologies, tools

and techniques based on the research objectives in order to answer the research

question, as well as to evaluate the chosen methods by comparing with other

possible alternatives.

As can be seen in table 1, there are several approaches to archive the research

objectives. Some essential methods, such as case study methodology, direct

observation, group interviews, and rapid software development (RAD), are

evaluated and justified in the following paragraphs.

Table 1 - Matching objectives to methods and outcomes, and summary of

chosen methodologies

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3.1 Case study methodology

This study conducts an inductive research. The proposed methodology to

accomplish the aim and research objectives in this research is a case study approach.

This is divided into four main stages: design, conducting, analysis the case study

evidence, and developing the conclusions and implications (Yin 2010).

The case in this research is the development of an e-menu prototype at a selected

Thai casual dining restaurant. The type of research design is a single-case study with

two analysis units, which are the evaluation of the software development and users’

perceptions. The case study method is not only suitable for conducting evaluation

research, but is also appropriate for a descriptive question, such as what or how. It is

better than a quantitative approach in terms of providing holistic and in-depth

explanations of the behavioral problems (Kemanusiaan 2007). However, Baxter and

Jack (2008) claim that it can also be extremely time consuming.

To conduct this case study, qualitative approaches by direct observation and the

group interview methods are selected to collect data.

Firstly, direct observation for requirement analysis is a straightforward activity that

can provide insight into the users and their tasks, whereas indirect observation by

video recording can create more distance between observers and users, and that by

interviews only can be difficult to clearly understand all problem areas (Kriwaczek

2006).

Secondly, although collecting data by a questionnaire method is cheap, convenient

and has no bias by an interviewer, evaluating users’ perceptions of the e-menu

system by group interviews enable an interviewer to make clear in unambiguous

question as well as prevent missing important data (Slack 2012a). It can also

provide both detailed information and some fascinating contextual or other

information (Wisker 2008). The comparison among observation, interview, and

questionnaire methods are summarized as following table.

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Table 2 - Comparison table among observation, interview and questionnaire

methods (Slack 2012b)

4.1 Software development methodology by RAD with prototyping

Regarding literature evaluation, Agile and rapid application development (RAD) are

iterative software development methodologies to react to the problems with the

traditional waterfall methodology. Agile approach starts from analysis requirements

and design specifications, then directly to code and test software, whereas the RAD

approach uses a prototype to get feedback from customers in order to enhance the

prototype until the users are satisfied. This continuous feedback loop enables an

RAD prototype to correspond exactly with customer needs (Meso and Jain 2011).

Moreover, RAD is appropriate for a small project which has a shorter delivery time,

but Agile is suitable for a larger project (Khan et al. 2011). Finally, the RAD

approach can enhance the features of the prototype more rapidly to deliver a

workable and satisfactory system. However, using RAD with prototyping may make

a system inadequate for overall business needs if the system is accepted by only

specific groups of users (Hoffer, George and Valacich 2008).

This research proposes RAD as a development methodology to develop a prototype

for several reasons. Firstly, RAD is an incremental software development process

model by using customers’ feedback. Therefore, the quality of the prototype will be

improved throughout the life cycle as shown in figure 4 (Sommerville 2004).

Secondly, Hoffer, George and Valacich (2008) point out that system developed by

the RAD model both spend shorter time and is closer to the business needs than that

by the Agile and traditional models. As a result, the prototype fulfilled requirements

can be and developed rapidly. Finally, Gantthead (2010) mentions that RAD is more

effective than Agile for a narrow project scope with a small implementation team.

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Therefore, a prototype which implements only some features by one person is more

suitable for implementation by RAD than Agile approach.

Fig. 4 - RAD Prototype model (Sommerville 2004)

70

5. Research process

There are four main research stages of this case study, which are design, conducting,

analysis and conclusion, as shown in figure 5 (Yin 2010). In the second phase, a

prototype is developed following the RAD approach to analyse, design, develop and

test the system (Khan et al. 2011). Data are collected and analysed in the

conducting, analysis and conclusion stages as follows.

Fig. 5 - Proposed research process framework (Yin 2010; Khan et al. 2011)

In the conducting stage, requirements are gathered at a selected restaurant by direct

observation of the service processes and interviews with related users such as the

owner, chefs and waiters. Then, requirements are analysed to design user interfaces

and new restaurant service processes. Lastly, requirements are confirmed and an

initial prototype is developed, respectively.

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After the first prototype is developed and tested by users, feedback data is collected

by direct observation again in order to analyse and create a new prototype version.

As can be seen in figure 5, the life cycle of developing the prototype is an iterative

process repeated until the users are satisfied.

In addition, after the final prototype is completed and tested by restaurant staff, data

is then collected by group interviews from the restaurant owner and all waiting staff,

whereas a non-probability sample of around ten customer groups are selected to

interview.

In data analysis process, the approach for interpreting qualitative data is a content

analysis method. This method can analyse data for the objective and systematic

description of manifest content of communication. It is an effective technique that

helps analyst reducing time and the effect of bias (Kohlbacher 2006).

In conclusion, collecting data by direct observation in their natural habitats is an

effective way to understand business processes and requirements, especially implicit

requirements. It is also an effective way for getting feedback about the prototype to

refine requirements so that it satisfies users (Sehlhorst 2006), whereas qualitative

group interview approach is a good method to capture the subjective comments of

participants and find out the perceptions of users (Blom 2006).

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6. Potential outcomes

This research is expected to design and develop a prototype of e-menu application

for a Thai casual dining restaurant. The potential outcomes can be defined in terms

of software development artifacts, users’ perceptions and recommendations

regarding development of the e-menu application.

Firstly, a prototype of e-menu application, system analysis and design documents,

such as database design, use case, class diagrams, and feedback from development

of the e-menu prototype can be of benefit to software practitioners and developers

who are interested in software development, especially for mobile application,

restaurant system and RAD methodology. Furthermore, the prototype and system

design documents of this case study will be useful to produce the final product of an

e-menu system in the future.

Secondly, the summary of users’ perceptions on using e-menu application can be

information for restaurant owners and people who would like to start a restaurant

business. It can help them to make decisions with regards to implementation of the

e-menu system to improve their service efficiency and customer satisfaction. In

addition, this case study can also generalize the result to other types of restaurants,

e.g. fast food restaurants, cafes and pubs, because most restaurants use menus for

ordering food and beverage as a basic function.

7. Issues of access and ethics

There are some ethical issues that need to be addressed in this research. Firstly, in

the direct observation process at a selected restaurant, a researcher must request

formal permission to observe activities, and must not disclose business information

without permission, e.g. revenue and number of customers. Moreover, all

information has to be reviewed by the restaurant owner and related people before

submission. Finally, in the interview process, the researcher must explain the

objectives of the research to participants and request permission to record sound or

video during the interviews (Wisker 2008).

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8. Conclusion

To sum up, this inductive research will employ a case study approach to answer the

research question that is how can a prototype of an electronic menu (e-menu)

application be developed for the casual dining restaurant industry to meet business

requirements? The case study will use qualitative approaches i.e. direct observation

to develop a software prototype, and group interviews to evaluate users’

perceptions. Finally, this research is expected that the software prototype, system

design documents and suggestions in this development will be of benefit to software

practitioners and developers who are interested in the development of mobile

applications, especially for the restaurant industry. It is also hoped to be of a

particular interest to restaurant owners who are looking towards improving their

service efficiency and customer satisfaction by using an e-menu system.

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