ACS 3907 E-Commerce. Instructor: Kerry Augustine January 24 th Bowen Hui, Beyond the Cube Consulting Services Ltd.

Transcription

1 ACS 3907 E-Commerce Instructor: Kerry Augustine January 24 th

2 Building an E-commerce Site: A Systematic Approach Develop clear understanding of your business objectives What information needs to be conveyed? Who are your clients? Who are your sponsors/stakeholders? Who needs to use the site? How will these users use the site? Knowing how to choose right technologies to achieve objectives In-house development, open-source, commercial Outsourcing considerations E-Commerce technology architecture including hardware, software, database options 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 2

3 Imagine Your E-commerce Presence What s the idea? Vision Mission statement Target audience Intended market space Strategic analysis Internet marketing matrix Development timeline and preliminary budget 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 3

4 Imagine Your E-commerce Presence (cont.) Where s the money? Business model(s): Portal, e-tailer, content provider, transaction broker, market creator, service provider, community provider Revenue model(s): Advertising, subscriptions, transaction fees, sales, and affiliate revenue 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 4

5 Imagine Your E-commerce Presence (cont.) Who and where is the target audience? Describing your audience Demographics Age, gender, income, location Behavior patterns (lifestyle) Consumption patterns (purchasing habits) Digital usage patterns Content creation patterns (blogs, Facebook) Buyer personas 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 5

6 Imagine Your E-commerce Presence (cont.) Characterize the marketplace Demographics Size, growth, changes Structure Competitors Suppliers Substitute products Where is the content coming from? Static or dynamic? 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 6

7 Imagine Your E-commerce Presence (cont.) Know yourself SWOT analysis Develop an e-commerce presence map Develop a timeline: Milestones How much will this cost? Simple Web sites: up to $5000 Small Web start-up: $25,000 to $50,000 Large corporate site: $100,000+ to millions 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 7

8 SWOT Analysis Figure 4.1, page 189 8

9 E-commerce Presence Map Figure 4.2, page Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 9

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11 Design Considerations Key players who s involved? Owner Employees (Hierarchical? Management?) Suppliers Stakeholders High-level processes how do the key players interact? What kind of information is exchanged between the key players? Functionality and applications what kinds of features are made available by your site, and how are they organized into applications? Expected traffic site/page traffic, seasonal deadlines? 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 11

12 Budget Planning 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 12

13 Example Design Scenarios Sell text books using online catalog Categories of books? Pricing options? Multiple sellers and buyer interaction? Service that connects tutors and students How is a match initiated? Student-to-student or tutor-to-tutor interaction? Recommendation or rating system? Distributor of dog products to pet stores Types of products? Storage and delivery options? Local, regional, national, global distribution? Support for expansion to individual customers? 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 13

14 Pieces of the Site-Building Puzzle Main areas where you will need to make decisions: 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 14

15 The Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) Methodology for understanding business objectives of a system and designing an appropriate solution Five major steps: Systems analysis/planning Systems design Building the system Testing Implementation 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 15

16 Web Site Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) Figure 4.5, Page Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 16

17 System Analysis/Planning Business objectives: List of capabilities you want your site to have System functionalities: List of information system capabilities needed to achieve business objectives Information requirements: Information elements that system must produce in order to achieve business objectives 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 17

18 Table 4.2, page Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 18

19 Essential Applications and Functions Digital catalog display goods using text, graphics Product database product description, stock number, inventory level Customer on-site tracking site log per customer visit, personalization, common customer paths and destinations Shopping cart/payment system ordering system, secure credit card clearing, other payment options Customer database customer name, address, phone, Sales database customer ID, product purchased, date, payment, shipment, fulfillment Ad server tracks site behaviour, prospective customers Site tracking and reporting system monitors unique visitors, page visits, products purchased Inventory management system manages product inventory levels, supplier ID and contact, order quantity data by product 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 19

20 Additional Application Examples Invoice system internal accounting Security user authentication, secure protocols, encryption Customer relationship management customer feedback, reminder system, case management Supply chain and inventory management supply and demand analysis, inventory forecasting Human resource management time logs, workload analysis, scheduling, resource allocation Financial planning system basic accounting, cash flow analysis, forecasting 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 20

21 Systems Design: Logical and Physical System design specification: Description of main components of a system and their relationship to one another Two components of system design: Logical design = description of flow of information and major processes and relationships involved E.g., major system components and data flow Physical design = mapping of logical design to physical components E.g. actual servers to purchase 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 21

22 Logical Design for a Simple Web Site Figure 4.6 (a), Page Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 22

23 Physical Design for a Simple Web Site Figure 4.6 (b), Page Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 23

24 Logical Design Principles It should have an overall macro view of the system rather than a tunnel view The design process should be logical. The design should reinvent the wheel. The design should be a very close abstraction of the problem. The design should be uniform and integrated The design should be structured The design should be reviewed on a real-time basis to minimize errors Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 24

25 Design Concept Abstraction Procedural abstraction Data abstraction Refinement Modularity 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 25

26 Abstraction Abstraction is the conceptualization of an issue or problem or entity in terms of some level of generalization without regarding to irrelevant low-level details. Procedural abstraction: it is a named collection of several sequential procedural steps. For example to open a door implies a long sequence of procedural steps (walk to the door, reach out and grasp knob, turn knob and pull door). Data abstraction: this is name of a set of data that defines of an object. For example the data abstraction for door would encompass a set of attributes that describe a door (door type, swing direction, opening mechanisms, weight, etc.) 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 26

27 Design Concept - Abstration Chapter 13 Design Concepts and Principles Published by Kennedi Sherburn 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 27

28 Design Concept - Abstraction Chapter 13 Design Concepts and Principles Published by Kennedi Sherburn 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 28

29 Refinement Refinement helps the designer in elaborating the system and bringing-out lower-level details as the design progress. This is a top- down design strategy in which design is refined after each successive step. Refinement AKA - stepwise program development. It begins with the specifications derived during requirements analysis and external design. The problem is first decomposed into major processing steps and then the process is repeated for each part of the system until it is decomposed into sufficient details Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 29

30 Design Concept - Refinement Chapter 13 Design Concepts and Principles Published by Kennedi Sherburn 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 30

31 Modularity It helps the designer to compartmentalize the design into functional compartments as the entire system can be conceived to be composed of a set of modules, each having its own special feature and functionality rather than a monolithic entity. Modularity helps the designer to comprehend the system better. Effective modular design in general reduces the complexity of the system by dividing system into easily understandable modules Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 31

32 Design Concept - Modularity Chapter 13 Design Concepts and Principles Published by Kennedi Sherburn 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 32

33 Build/Host Your Own vs. Outsourcing Outsourcing: Hiring vendors to provide services involved in building site Build own vs. outsourcing: Build your own requires team with diverse skill set; choice of software tools; both risks and possible benefits Host own vs. outsourcing Hosting: Hosting company responsible for ensuring site is accessible 24/7, for monthly fee Co-location: Firm purchases or leases Web server (with control over its operation), but server is located at vendor s facility 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 33

34 Choices in Building and Hosting Figure 4.7 Page Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 34

35 Build from scratch Building Own vs. Outsourcing Long development time (requires skilled staff) Risk of reinventing the wheel Highly customized solution possible Use pre-built packages + customize Easy to start Could get costly to change/upgrade/maintain Limited in functionality and design Outsourcing + design requirements/input Need to be clear on what you want Don t have to think about design and technical details Costs may involve development costs, management costs, ongoing support costs, your input time 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 35

36 Tools for Building Your Design Content Management Systems (CMS) 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 36

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39 Content Management Systems (CMS) CMS = content management system Software to create content of websites on-the-fly by users No programming knowledge required by users No need to download editing software Allows multiple users to contribute to the site Independence from webmaster Fast prototyping put up framework and plug in content later 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 39

40 How CMS Works Additional functionality available via plugins (requires more technical knowledge) Plugin = self-contained software component that can be added to create larger, integrated application Design follows the same template format as rest of site Separation of content from functionality and design Can function as intranet management system (non-website) 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 40

41 Example Features Text, graphics, menus, links, etc. User accounts and access control levels Variety of professional design templates available Plugins: Gallery/album Scheduling tool (calendar, appointment requests) Feedback/contact forms Shopping cart Credit card authentication Web statistics ( Standards compliant ( Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 41

42 CMS Example Word Press 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 42

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46 Testing, Implementation, and Maintenance Testing Unit testing System testing Acceptance testing Implementation and maintenance: Maintenance is ongoing Maintenance costs: Similar to development costs Benchmarking 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 46

47 Personalization Tools Personalization Ability to treat people based on personal qualities and prior history with site Customization Ability to change the product to better fit the needs of the customer Cookies Primary method to achieve personalization 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 47

48 The Information Policy Set Privacy policy Set of public statements declaring how site will treat customers personal information that is gathered by site Accessibility rules Set of design objectives that ensure disabled users can affectively access site 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 48

49 Designing Your E-Commerce Solution Unified Modeling Language (UML) 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 49

50 Purpose: Exercises Getting used to vague specifications Multiple implementations to satisfy the same business objective Constraints: 2-3Teams 15 minutes of discussion and decision making Everyone focus on one of the previous scenarios Outcomes: 5 minute presentation and rough e-commerce presence map Identification of major system functional requirements and application components Description of one user interaction scenario 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 50

51 Team Exercises Round 1 Team Exercise (3) Round 2 Team Exercise (3) 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 51