STUDENT ID : TP017446

INTAKE ID : UC3F1407TC

STUDENT NAME : MURUGESHWARAN A/L SIVAPERUMAL

SUPERVISOR : AKANSHA MANDHANA

A. Project Title

E – Commerce Portal for APU students “E - Mart”

B. Brief description on project background. (i.e. problem context, rationale, description

problem area, nature of challenge)

Problem Statement

APU consists of students from various parts of Malaysia and foreign students from all parts of

the world, namely Africa, Middle East and Asia. Due to this they have to buy or rent items such

as rooms, furniture and books. This leads to several issues which would be discussed here,

Firstly students waste a lot of time, resources and effort in searching for items that they require

due to being in a foreign country and not having the necessary resources as a local would have.

For example, by travelling to multiple locations to find, inspect and purchase/rent the items. As

well as by using the Facebook page “UCTI market” which has many flaws such as no search

option and categorization thus failing to be an adequate portal by itself as one obvious reason

for deploying portals is to improve productive by increasing speed and customising the

content of information in a organized fashion (Katz, Daigle and Cuocco, 2002).

Students also face the issue of not having adequate information on the items that they are

searching for, as currently the method that most students use are by word of mouth and by using

a Facebook page called UCTI market which are not really reliable on certain situations. The

relevant information needs to be available at the proper place and time for buyers

(Vishwakarma, Kumar and Singh, 2014).

Security and privacy is a major issue that students face by using open media such as Facebook,

as they risk providing their personal information to strangers from various countries which might

be used against their permission due to privacy and consumer protection laws varying from

country to country (Maloney, 2000). Though all sites have the possibility of security breach,

Facebook's is significantly higher as large data warehouses are often targets of

intruder.For example, ChoicePoint’s databases were breached and 145,000 records were

compromised (Jones and Soltren, 2005).

Rationale

According to the problems stated above, an online ecommerce portal “E - Mart” will be a

standalone web application which allows APU students to sell and purchase items online more

securely and efficiently. The benefits provided by the system are categorized as tangible and

intangible benefits. The benefits the user receives show how effective the online portal is. If no

benefits are identified the system is rendered useless as it does not provide any additional

benefits to the user and university.

Tangible Benefits

Students/users save time and resources in finding for the items that they need.

Students would be able to get the details and description as well as the look of

the item (via images and videos).

Students do not have to travel to purchase the items that they need.

Students will save money by purchasing/renting from fellow students and not

retailers.

Intangible Benefits

The risk of getting cheated is reduced as all the transactions are between APU

students.

Reduce the risk of potential harm by providing their information to strangers.

Business opportunity for students.

Nature of Challenge

Creating a the portal will have its own challenges, firstly I would need to tackle the database

issue, in which different types information have to be created and saved thus a database that has

MySQL database to be made to ensure that the users would be able to upload and search for

intended items categorically as well as profile creation. There will be need to learn and know

how to make a database due to lack of prior knowledge. Secondly, security of the portal will be a

major part to concentrate on to ensure the students information and transactions are safe. For

example, encryption of the student information, prevention on XSS and SQL Injection and

ensuring adequate access control by limiting access to admin panels from specific IP will be

some of the ways to enhance to security level of the web application. Last but not least, learning

and applying knowledge on PHP object – oriented programming and Adobe Flash player will be

one of the core challenges in the constructing of the system.

C. Brief description of project objectives. (i.e. scope of proposal and deliverables)

Objectives

Objectives provide guidelines needed to know exactly what is required to be done and

accomplished. The objectives will ensure the project is in track and a success. Below are the

objectives that are aimed to be met.

To make a user friendly interface for users to be able to navigate the portal easily.

To reduce time and resource wastage on looking for items

To ensure the users have a safe outlet to purchase intended items.

Deliverables

The mobile movie booking system allows the customer to book movies using their mobile

phones. By using this application, customers can book in advance the movie without having to

wait in long queues at the cinema. Below are functions of the application

Allow the users to log in and log out of the application.

Allow the users to upload items that they want to sell or rent out (for example rooms

and car).

Allow the users to search for items categorically (price, type, date of upload and etc).

Allow users to place bids/bargain for the item(s) wanted.

Allow the users to create their profiles with personal information (optional) and be

able to edit it when necessary.

Apart from that, the special features of the system will be added if there is any extra time.

Chat system to enable communication between users.

Enable mode of payment to be done using the student ID itself.

Record and track users’ transaction history to classify user in terms of activeness

D. Brief description of the resources needed by the proposal. (i.e. hardware, software,

access to information / expertise, user involvement etc.)

Hardware

The following are the specifications that needed to program the application to meet the outlined

objectives

Processor - AMD Dual-Core A6-4455M (2.1 GHz, 1 MB cache)

Random Access Memory – 512MB

Hard Drive - 500 GB 5400 rpm SATA

Keyboard

Mouse

Router (RJ45 / Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi))

Software

The following are the software required to make the application

Code Editor and Database Management System (DBMS)

Net beans 7.2

MySQL Version 6.0 phpMyAdmin 4.2.7.1

Adobe Flash CS5.5

Microsoft Access 2010

Server-Side Scripting, Web Server and File Transfer Protocol (FTP) Software

PHP 5.5

Apache 2.4.10

FileZilla FTP Server 0.9.46

Documentation and Planning

Microsoft Project 2010

Microsoft Word 2010

Access to information / expertise

Information will be collected through books and online websites, which will provide more

solutions and data throughout the project. Expertise from lectures, supervisor and advisor will be

consulted in areas which are difficult and further clarification is required. Apart from that,

information may be gathered from interviews and surveys done from the admin and student

services department staffs as well students and lecturers of APU.

User Involvement

Users in this case will be students in which I will show them the application and get feedback on

the interface and usability of the application. Furthermore, questionnaires and interviews will be

conducted to find out what are expected out of an E – Commerce portal.

E. Academic research being carried out and other information, techniques being learnt.

(i.e. what are the names of books you are going to read / data sets you are going to use)

The following is the list of Books, WebPages and Journals that I will use as sources of

information for the project.

Books

Topic: Programming

Description: The following books will help me in learning about creating database using

PHP and Netbeans.

Name:Php programming

Author: Kevin Tatroe, Peter MacIntyre ,Rasmus Lerdorf

Publisher:O'Reilly Media; Third Edition edition, 2013

Name:Introduction to Programming in Java: An Interdisciplinary Approach

Author: Robert Sedgewick, Kevin Wayne

Publisher:Addison-Wesley; 1 edition, 2007

Topic: Database

Description: The following books will help me in learning about creating database using

MYSQL.

Name:Pro MySQL

Author: Jay Pipes, Michael Kruckenberg

Publisher: Apress, 2005

Name: MySQL

Author: Paul DuBois

Publisher: Pearson Education, 2008

Name: Beginning MySQL

Author: Robert Sheldon, Geoff Moes

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, 2005

Topic: Flash

Description: Flash will be implemented to make the application more interactive thus researching

on flash will be gained using the following books

Name:Exploring Adobe Flash CS5

Author: Annesa Hartman

Publisher: Cengage Learning, 2010

Topic: Ecommerce

Description: it is important to have a good knowledge of ecommerce and how it works to ensure

the project aim is achieved.

Name: Web security, privacy and commerce

Author: Simson Garfinkel and Gene Spafford

Publisher: O'Reilly, 2002.

Name: E-commerce

Author: Kenneth Laudon

Publisher: Prentice Hall, 2012.

Topic: Technical Research

Description: the book will provide guidance on proper steps and procedures of managing a

project.

Name: Project management

Author: Harold Kerzner

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, 2009.

Online Resources and Journals

Vishwakarma, P., Kumar, G. and Singh, D. (2014). Comparative Analysis of E-commerce

portal based on user’s Feedback - A Cognitive Task Approach. [online]

internationaljournalofresearch.files.wordpress.co. Available at:

https://internationaljournalofresearch.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/comparative-analysis-

of-e-commerce-portal-based-on-user-feedback-a-cognitive-task-approach-singh-

vishwakarma-kumar.pdf [Accessed 16 Aug. 2014].

Jones, H. and Soltren, J. (2005). Facebook: Threats to Privacy. [online]

http://groups.csail.mit.edu/.Available at:

http://groups.csail.mit.edu/mac/classes/6.805/student-papers/fall05-papers/facebook.pdf

[Accessed 14 Aug. 2014].

Katz, R., Daigle, S. and Cuocco, P. (2002). Portal Technology Opportunities, Obstacles,

and Options: A View from the California State University. [online]

http://net.educause.edu/. Available at: http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/pub5006k.pdf

[Accessed 16 Aug. 2014].

Maloney, J. (2000). Security and International E-Commerce. [online]

http://asia.stanford.edu/. Available at: http://asia.stanford.edu/us-atmc/wordpress/wp-

content/uploads/2010/12/ee402a-11162000-maloney.pdf [Accessed 15 Aug. 2014].

Benzzine, A. (2002). (System Development methodologies : a framework for

comparison ). [online] Umsl.edu. Available at:

http://www.umsl.edu/~sauterv/analysis/488_f02_papers/methodologies.html [Accessed

18 Aug. 2014].

www.cms.gov, (2008). SELECTING A DEVELOPMENT APPROACH. [online]

Available at: https://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/CMS-

Information-Technology/XLC/Downloads/SelectingDevelopmentApproach.pdf

[Accessed 18 Aug. 2014].

Dictionary.com, (2014). the definition of prototyping. [online] Available at:

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/prototyping?s=t [Accessed 17 Aug. 2014].

Istqbexamcertification.com, (2014). What is Prototype model- advantages, disadvantages

and when to use it?. [online] Available at: http://istqbexamcertification.com/what-is-

prototype-model-advantages-disadvantages-and-when-to-use-it/ [Accessed 18 Aug.

2014].

F. Brief description of the development plan for the proposed project. (i.e. which software

methodology and why, the major areas of functions to be developed and the order in which

developed)

Methodology

A system development methodology refers a standard process followed by an organization

to conduct all the steps necessary to analyze, design, implement, and maintain information

systems (Benzzine, 2002).the methodology of acts a guiding tool for the developer to make a

system. There are different types of methodologies available according to the systems needs and

the developer wants to accomplish. After much deliberation, I have chosen two different

software development methodologies that I think will be the most suitable in planning,

organising and controlling the development process.

The first methodology chosen is Waterfall methodology; it illustrates the development process in

a linear sequential flow. This means that any phase in the development process begins only if the

previous phase is completed. In waterfall model, phases do not overlap and each phase of

development has its own distinct goals. Furthermore, it is an ideal methodology for supporting

less experienced project teams and leaders as it is simple and easy to understand and use as

well as being able to measure the progress of system development easily (www.cms.gov,

2008).

The second methodology chosen is prototyping methodology, it can be described as an original,

full scale and functioning model of the proposed system and serves as a basis or standard

for later stages of development (Dictionary.com, 2014). Furthermore, it also enables errors to

be detected earlier as users’ feedbacks are gained immediately and changes can be made

accordingly. Prototyping is also best suited for online systems and web interfaces as they

typically have very high amount of interaction with end users (Istqbexamcertification.com,

2014) and these results in easier implementation.

G. Brief description of the evaluation and test plan for the proposed project. (i.e. what is

the success criteria and how will be evaluated and implementation will be tested, indicate

the estimated size of the demonstration / test database)

Success Criteria

The success criterion of the e – commerce portal system is its ability to meet the requirements of

the users. The users should be able to perform basic functions such as search for intended items

categorically, post items and are able to place their orders or bids, when the planned aspects of

the application are accomplished then the system is rendered a success.

Unit Testing

To ensure the application is operational to the wanted requirements, the system has to be tested.

In order to do so the system has to be broken down into smaller function units to individually

check how they work. For example, the login function which requires user id (APU student id

number) and password will be tested individually to determine if it functions according to the

predetermined/expected requirements.

Integration Testing

After testing the units individually, it is imperative to check if the units function effectively and

efficiently as a whole system. This is to ensure that each step works according to the layout plan.

For instance, when the user inputs a search for an item it should be searched immediately on the

portal’s database and the project the search results to the user, thus there has to be a good level of

functionality between the portal’s database and the front-end view of the user.

System testing

The process of performing a variety of tests on a system to explore functionality or to identify

problems and eradicate it. In system testing, there are two type of testing, Fuctionality testing and

Non-functionality testing. Functionality testing is where the application is tested if it performs as

per requirement. Meanwhile, in non-functionality testing, there are several types of tests

conducted such as Load, stress, performance, reliability, security,usability, configuration,

compatibility and scalability tests.

Usability Testing

For an application to be deemed successful and met its requirements, it must first pass the

usability test as users’ approval is of utmost importance as they are the one going to use and

benefit from it. Even after the application has passed the integration testing, it may still be altered

if in the end the user does not like the application. The user determines the usability of the

application according to a series of criteria such as the graphical interface, user-friendliness and

interactivity, and fulfillment of the functions. The application will be provided to various types

of users to obtain more cohesive feedback.