FOR NJOSH ONLY
Level 1 Data Flow Diagram for the Record Customer Activities Process
You will need to create a level 1 diagram for the process Record Customer Activities from the level 0 diagram, PE Figure 6-2 on page 187.
You will need to turn in one level 1 diagram.
Review the three level 1 diagrams created by the other team and placed in doc sharing in the Project Workbook – Week 3 folder.
So you will need to draw one level 1 diagram. You can use any Microsoft Application; Visio is available for free download or you can use the Citrix iLab; but a lot of students use the draw features of MS Word. We have Visio tutorials available in the lecture and syllabus – give it a try! Visio is the most widely used diagramming tool in business today and you can gain practical experience that can serve both your resume and skill set!!
|
1. Correct Number of Sub-Processes Identified. (2) |
5 |
|
2. Correct external entities identified. (1) |
3 |
|
3. Data Flows Drawn correctly. (4) |
4 |
|
4. Data Stores drawn correctly. (1) |
3 |
|
TOTAL |
15 |
Record customer activities,” there will be two inputs coming from outside, coupons and purchases, and one output to the outside, transactions. There may be two or more sub-processes on each decomposition diagram. For example, for the process “Record customer activities,” there may be one sub-process for purchases and another for coupons. If the core process cannot be decomposed, there is no need for decomposition.
PE Figure 6-3: Level-1.1 Record Customer Activities
| Petrie’s Electronics Case Questions (Chapter 5) | Points |
|---|---|
| 1. What do you think are the sources of the information Jim and his team collected? How do you think they collected all of that information? | 5 |
| 3. If you were looking for alternative approaches for Petrie’s customer loyalty program, where would you look for information? Where would you start? How would you know when you were done? | 5 |
| 5. Why shouldn’t Petrie’s staff build their own unique system in-house? | 5 |
| Total | 15 |
| Petrie’s Electronics Case Questions (Chapter 6) | Points |
|---|---|
1. Are the DFDs in PE Figures 6-1 and 6-2 balanced? Show that they are, or are not. If they are not balanced, how can they be fixed?
|
|
5. Why is it important for the team to create DFDs if they are not going to write the actual system code themselves?
|
5 |
| Total | 10 |
The rubric below shows the required elements for the following deliverable:
| Level 1 Data Flow Diagram for the Record Customer Activities Process
You will need to create a level 1 diagram for the process Record Customer Activities from the level 0 diagram, PE Figure 6-2.
You will need to turn in one level 1 diagram.
Review the three level 1 diagrams created by the other team and placed in doc sharing in the Project Workbook – Week 3 folder.
So you will need to draw one level 1 diagram. You can use any Microsoft Application; Visio is available for free download or you can use the Citrix iLab; but a lot of students use the draw features of MS Word. We have Visio tutorials available in the lecture and syllabus – give it a try! Visio is the most widely used diagramming tool in business today and you can gain practical experience that can serve both your resume and skill set!!
|
Points |
|---|---|
| 1. Correct Number of Sub-Processes Identified. | 5 |
| 2. Correct external entities identified. | 3 |
| 3. Data Flows Drawn correctly. | 4 |
| 4. Data Stores drawn correctly. | 3 |
| Total | 15 |
CASE: PETRIE’S ELECTRONICS
Structuring Systems Requirements: Process Modeling
Jim and Sanjay chatted in Jim’s office while they waited for Sally to arrive.
“Good work on researching those alternatives,” Jim said.
”Thanks, replied Sanjay. “There are a lot of alternatives out there. I think we found the best three, considering what we are able to pay.”
Just then Sally walked in. “Sorry I’m late. Things are getting really busy in marketing right now. I’ve been putting out fires all morning.”
Sally sat down at the table across from Jim.
PE TABLE 6-1: Four Core Functions of Petrie’s Customer Loyalty System
|
Function |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Record customer activities |
When a customer makes a purchase, the transaction must be recorded in the customer loyalty system, as the rewards the system generates are driven by purchases. Similarly, when a customer uses a coupon generated by the system, it must also be recorded, so that the customer activity records can be updated to show that the coupon has been used and is now invalid. |
|
Send promotions |
Data about customer activities provide information about what types of products customers tend to buy and in what quantities. This information helps determine what sales promotion materials are best targeted at what customers. Customers who buy lots of video games should receive promotions about games, game platforms and HD TVs, for example. |
|
Generate point-redemption coupons |
Data about customer activities is used to generate coupons for future purchases. Those coupons must be made available to customers, either as paper coupons sent in the mail or online, in the customer’s private account area. Once created, the customer activity database needs to be updated to show the creation of the coupon. The loyalty points needed to create the coupon must be deducted from the customer’s total points. |
|
Generate customer reports |
From time to time, either in the mail or electronically, customers need to be sent account reports that show their recent purchases, the coupons they have been issued that have not yet been redeemed, and the total points they have amassed from their purchases. |
“I understand,” Jim said. “But to stay on schedule, we need to start focusing on the specifics of what we want our system to do. Remember when you wanted more details on what the system would do? Well, now we start to spend some serious energy on getting that done.”
“Awesome,” replied Sally, as she pulled a Red Bull out of her oversized bag and popped it open.
“I’ve got a list here of four core functions the system must perform,” said Sanjay, pulling copies of a list from a folder on the table (PE Table 6-1). “Let’s look at these.”
After reviewing the list Sanjay had given them, Jim said, “Nice job, Sanjay. But we need to put this in graphical format, so that everyone can see what the inputs and outputs are for each function and how they are related to each other. We also need to see how the new system fits in with our existing data sources. We need ₀”
“Some data-flow diagrams,” Sanjay interrupted. “Exactly,” said Jim.
“They are already done,” replied Sanjay, handing diagrams to both Jim and Sally. “I’ve already created a first draft of the context diagram [PE Figure 6-1] and a level-1 diagram [PE Figure 6-2]. You can see how I’ve defined the boundaries of our system, and I’ve included our existing product and marketing databases.”
PE FIGURE 6-1 Context diagram.
PE FIGURE 6-2 Level-1 DFD.
“What can I say?” Jim said. “Again, a nice job on your part. These diagrams are both good places for us to start. Let’s get copies of all of this to the team.”
“I’ll be right back,” Sally said, standing up. “I need to get some coffee.”
Case Questions
- 1. Are the DFDs in PE Figures 6-1 and 6-2 balanced? Show that they are, or are not. If they are not balanced, how can they be fixed?
- 2. Decompose each of the core processes in PE Figure 6-2 and draw a new DFD for each core process.
- 3. Has the team overlooked any core processes in the system that should be in PE Table 6-1 and PE Figure 6-2? What would they be? Add them to PE Table 6-1 and PE Figure 6-2.
- 4. Redesign PE Figures 6-1 and 6-2 so that they are clearer, more efficient, and more comprehensive.
- 5. Why is it important for the team to create DFDs if they are not going to write the actual system code themselves?
week 5
Week 5 Project Tasks
- Read the Petrie’s Electronic Case at the end of Chapter 8. These include reviewing the customer accounts area and creating the Order History page.
- Read the Petrie’s Electronic Case at the end of Chapter 9 (No case questions are assigned).
| Category | Points |
|---|---|
| Petrie’s Electronics Case, Chapter 8, Questions 1–5. You will need to update the customer account area page and create the Order History Page using Visio or any MS Office product. | 25 |
| Systems Design SDLC Phase 3 Package | 25 |
Grading Rubrics
Answer the questions to the case studies below completely.
| Petrie’s Electronics Case Questions Solutions (Chapter 8) | Points |
|---|---|
| 1. Using the guidelines from this chapter and other sources, evaluate the usability of the page design depicted in Figure 8-1. | 5 |
| 2. Chapter 8 encourages the design of a help system early in the design of the human interface. How would you incorporate help into the interface as shown in Figure 8-1? | 5 |
| 3. Describe how cookie crumbs could be used in this system. Are cookie crumbs a desirable navigation aid for this system? Why or why not? | 5 |
| 4. The page design depicted in Figure 8-1 links to an Order History page. Sketch a similar layout for the Order History page, following guidelines from Chapter 8. | 5 |
| 5. Describe how the use of template-based HTML might be leveraged in the design of the No Customer Escapes system. | 5 |
| Total | 25 |
Designing the Human Interface
Jim Watanabe, project director for the “No Customer Escapes” customer loyalty system for Petrie’s Electronics, walked into the conference room. Sally Fukuyama, from marketing, and Sanjay Agarwal, from IT, were already there. Also at the meeting was Sam Waterston, one of Petrie’s key interface designers.
“Good morning,” Jim said. “I’m glad everyone could be here today. I know you are all busy, but we need to make some real progress on the customer account area for ‘No Customer Escapes.’ We have just awarded the development of the system to XRA, and once all the documents are signed, they will be coming over to brief us on the implementation process and our role in it.”
“I’m sorry,” Sally said, “I don’t understand. If we are licensing their system, what’s left for us to do? Don’t we just install the system and we’re done?” Sally took a big gulp of coffee from her cup.
“I wish it was that easy,” Jim said. “While it is true that we are licensing their system, there are many parts of it that we need to customize for our own particular needs. One obvious area where we need to customize is all of the human interfaces. We don’t want the system to look generic to our loyal customers—we need to make it unique to Petrie’s.”
“And we have to integrate the XRA system with our own operations,” added Sanjay. “For example, we have to integrate our existing marketing and product databases with the XRA CRM (see PE Figure 6-2). That’s just one piece of all the technical work we have to do.”
“We’ve already done some preliminary work on system functionality and the conceptual database,” Jim said. “I want to start working on interface issues now. That’s why Sam is here. What we want to do today is start work on how the customer account area should look and operate. And Sally, the customer loyalty site is a great opportunity for marketing. We can advertise specials and other promotions to our best customers on this site. Maybe we could use it to show offers that are only good for members of our loyalty program.”
“Oh yeah,” Sally replied, “that’s a great idea. How would that look?”
“I have ideas,” said Sam. Using a drawing program on a tablet PC, he started to draw different zones that would be part of the interface. “Here at the top we would have a simple banner that says ‘Petrie’s’ and the name of the program.”
“It’s not really going to be called ‘No Customer Escapes,’ is it?” asked Sally.
PE FIGURE 8-1 Preliminary design for the customer account area.
“No, that’s an internal name,” replied Jim, “but I don’t know what the real name will be yet.”
“OK, so the real name of the program will go in the banner, after ‘Petrie’s.’Then on the left side, we’ll have a sidebar that has overview information about the customer account, things like name and points balance,” said Sam, drawing in a sidebar on the left of the screen.
“There will also be links to more detailed information about the account, so the customer can see more details on past transactions and on his or her profile.”
“So the rest of the screen is open. That would be a perfect place for marketing information,” suggested Sally. “Would we want just one big window for marketing? Maybe we could divide it up into additional windows, so we could use one to focus on general promotions and one to advertise ‘member only’ promotions?”
“Yeah, we can do that,” said Sam.
Just then Jim’s phone beeped. Jim looked at it. Uhoh, it was an urgent message from his boss, the director of IT. “Sorry, I need to take care of this immediately,” he told the group. “Can you guys work on this some more and then send me some of the screen designs you come up with?”
Later that afternoon, after the crisis was over, Jim sat back down at his desk for the first time in what seemed like a very long time. He glanced over his e-mail and noticed there was a message from Sam. Attached was a preliminary design for the customer account area. Jim opened it and looked it over (PE Figure 8-1). Hmmm, not bad, he thought. This is a good place for us to start.
Case Questions
- 1. Using the guidelines from this chapter and other sources, evaluate the usability of the page design depicted in PE Figure 8-1.
- 2. Chapter 8 encourages the design of a help system early in the design of the human interface. How would you incorporate help into the interface as shown in PE Figure 8-1?
- 3. Describe how cookie crumbs could be used in this system. Are cookie crumbs a desirable navigation aid for this system? Why or why not?
- 4. The page design depicted in PE Figure 8-1 links to an Order History page. Sketch a similar layout for the Order History page, following guidelines from Chapter 8.
- 5. Describe how the use of template-based HTML might be leveraged in the design of the “No Customer Escapes” system.
