Research Korner: Web/Tech

Types of Web-Based Systems

Types of Web-Based Systems   Abstract             This paper discusses different types of web-based systems in its importance to business improvement.  The impact of using web-based systems on businesses is also mentioned in supporting the types of web-based systems for a particular business.    Introduction             The worldwide use of the internet for business has created opportunities for Operations, Finance and IT Directors to deliver significant added value to their companies in many aspect of their business.  There could be a gain in margin improvement with the adoption of web-based stock system however; this would require a significant change in business processes in adopting new technology solutions.  According to Mansfield (2005), the advantages of a web-based system on businesses are significant; bringing improvement in flexibility, data communications, updates, maintenance (both hardware and software) lower running and support costs.  Being web-based the software is modular and can be drip fed through the organization according to the priorities of the business with the minimum.  In business, communication is very important since recent studies show that poor communication between companies is the root cause of risk in the design and construction process which would result in cost, schedule, scope and quality problems.  Web-based Systems come in great impact in responding to these potential concerns.  With Web-based systems, communications are standardized, documents can be exchanged instantaneously, documentation is standardized and centralized, everyone is completely accountable, and company and geographic borders are eliminated.  Another advantages that Web-based Systems will bring is the centralization of contents, the lesser need for user support (i.e. through upgrades), the ease of use, and the pervasive nature of Web browsers.    Web-Based Systems   Content Management System (CMS) Content management is the process of collecting, storing, delivering and monitoring information vital to the organization.  In web site terms, this includes uploading, storing and serving the information to those who need it, but only to those authorized to see it.  According to  (2001), a content management system is a concept and not a product.  It may include Web Facilitation, Format management, Revision tracking, Indexing, searching and retrieval, and Access management. For instance, Content Management System has been implemented by Northwoods Software Development which empowers non-technical personnel in creating and maintaining Web sites ( 2004).  Additionally, content management system is used as a technical term that refers to the “paperless office” (2005).             The content management system was developed by content publishing organizations which at first allowed sites to create templates of the presentation of their content on the web.  In 1998 a new system was developed which allowed Java developers to write applications that would be tied with content and target the content output to different channels.  Unfortunately, the product failed but the concepts that were introduced by it made their way and adopted by most modern systems. This is a computer software system for the purpose of organizing and facilitating collaborative creation of documents and other content.  This type of web-based system is frequently a web application used for managing websites and web content.  However, in many cases, these content management systems may require special client software for editing and constructing articles.  Types of content management systems: ·         Wikis – a web content management systems that assist in automating various aspects of web publishing ·         Transactional content management systems (T-CMS) that assist in managing e-commerce transactions. ·         Integrated content management systems (I-CMS) that assist in managing enterprise documents and content. ·         Publications management systems (P-CMS) that assist in managing the publications (manuals, books, help, guidelines, references) content life cycle. ·         Learning management systems (L-CMS) that assist in managing the web-based learning content life cycle. ·         Document imaging systems are also generally considered under the family of general content management. ·         Enterprise content management systems (E-CMS) vary in their functionality.  Some support both the web and publications content life cycle, while others support the web content life cycle and either transactional content or customer relationship management content.  The definition of Association for Information and Image Management or AIIM for ECM includes methods for “capture, manage, store, preserve and deliver” content across an enterprise.  “Manage” contains components like document management, collaboration, business process management, records management, email management, workflow and web content management.  The ECM concept is not restricted to web based technologies but includes client/server and hosted/On-demand solutions.             A few years ago, when the Internet popularity began to grow rapidly, many companies were in need to establish online presence through setting up their information portals on the World Wide Web. However, they soon found out that to change manually the content on the information portal is very time consuming.  In that situation the companies needed a tool that would allow them to quickly modify information, manage articles, links and file archives, retrieve a specific article using search functions, etc. Some solution providers in the market were offering similar service.  The drawback for the customers was that these solutions were very expensive.  Thus, there was a demand in the market for an affordable and easy to use solution.  The customer saw a brilliant business opportunity to cover that need by finding a company that would cooperate in developing a quality tool at a reasonable cost. Solution             To respond to the business need, Klopotek and Novosoft jointly developed the Web CMS (content management system)c-BiZZ: flexible up-to-date solution that allows managing all existing content on the information portal automatically. This system is very cost effective and solely relies on open technologies compared to other market offerings.  What is very important, the solution could be easily customized for any industry.  Furthermore, the tools and technologies chosen by Novosoft for developing the solution ensured that the final product could operate not only on Windows platform, but also on most other platforms, e.g. Macintosh.  That increased the sales potential of the product even further (). Tools and Technologies – Resin+JSP+Oracle, Web Sphere+JSP+Oracle Benefits To the customers: ·         The Novosoft technology opened up new sales channels for the customer. ·         The sales opportunities, as well as the revenue growth, are huge. To final users: ·         Effective up-to-date technology allows users to easily manage any information portal content. ·         Novosoft solution is very cost effective, which enabled many companies to establish their online presence. Anypay.com online payment system             Paying by check has some disadvantages – payment processing is slow, a check can get lost on the way, and it is cumbersome for a person to write many checks if payments are due to many payees.  The company decided to take advantage of the Internet technologies and to offer online banking services.  A solution had to insure highest security and reliability criteria.  This in line with the fact that electronic check is the most popular form of noncash payment with its volumes exceeds that of credit, debit, point-of-sale, and card transactions by three to four times (1995).             This online payment system , was designed by Novosoft with a wide array of payment services.  Any person or company can send, request, and receive money to and from anyone with e-mail address. The system has the following advantages. First, there is no need to write checks manually. Second, payment processing is much faster.  Actually, the Novosoft solution ensured that it takes microseconds to send a payment.  Third, the solution is a find for those who have to make many payments, for instance payments in affiliate programs or refunds.  Finally, it is much easier to control the distribution of funds - there is more control over the cash flow.  Most importantly, the system is reliable and secure. Indeed, security is the main factor attracting customers to this particular online payment system (www.novosoft-usa.com). Benefits Benefits for the customer In addition to standard payment services, the solution offers a number of unique features.  Considering the cost of the system, the customer received a first class product at a very attractive price. The system has attracted a flow of new clients increasing the customer's position in the market. Benefits for final users Final users enjoy convenience, speed, and security of the system.  Most services are free or inexpensive. Medical Presentation Tool             Healthcare organizations experience the need to have a simple and effective presentation tool to demonstrate various types of medical information to doctors and patients. Traditional presentation tools, such as PowerPoint, are not quite effective in presenting specific medical information.  In most cases they are designed for universal use, therefore they are too general.  As a result, they have a number of excessive features, which are not required for the medical practitioners.  Working with such tools usually slows down the work process.  Another shortcoming is that practically all of the available presentation tools are designed for use either in Macintosh platform or Windows, but not both.  Therefore, it creates extra problems for the organizations widely using both types of platforms. In this business situation, the medical organizations needed a simple presentation tool, solving the above problems. Solution             Novosoft offered a desktop application - "Medical Presentation Tool" -specifically designed for medical specialists.  User-friendly interface and optimal set of features made this product extremely easy to adopt by end users.  Also, the solution is Java-based, thus doctors can create and view the presentations on computers with either Mac or Windows OS. Benefits             Novosoft solution allowed doctors to easily create and conduct doctor-to-doctor and doctor-to-patient presentations.  This helpful tool makes doctor-to-doctor discussions more efficient, and facilitates the decision making process, hence each individual patient receives the best possible treatment in shortest possible time.  As a simple tool in doctor-to-patient presentations, it helps to clearly explain to a patient his specific situation, and visually illustrate how the doctor's recommendations would affect patient's condition, thus considerably improving the level of customer service. Charter Flights Management System             A charter flights company, that operates in Europe and overseas, decided to automate its difficult-to-control manual charter flight processing and move it to the company Intranet.  Charter flights have been claimed to cause both overcrowding at destinations and dependency on price cutting as a form of competition (Josephides, 1994).  For this reason, Charter Flights Management System offers a perfect solution. The company was looking for solution that will help reduce costs, to provide clerks with ready-to-use document templates, and hasten flight order turnaround.  To achieve more effective control - and to cut administrative costs, a large percentage of document flow had to be transferred from paper to the Intranet. Solution             Novosoft delivered back-office Intranet application allowing the client to quickly automate its flight handling process, from requisition to staffing and scheduling.  Moreover, the solution supports airport, aircraft and equipment databases, human resources, standard and additional expenses accounting (such as hotel reservation for pilots), etc. Application allows clerks to create document template database on the fly, including forms, menus and documents.  Novosoft put its best effort into designing easy-to-use interface, so even the inexperienced user could make a meta description of a desired database, structure database with menus, create document templates and forms etc.  Additionally, the solution is integrated with the company legacy accounting system - CIEL, and allows exporting the flight expenses into CIEL. Keeping in mind that our client operates in many European countries, Novosoft has embedded multilingual support into the system.  Novosoft developed intelligent self-expanded editable database of translated sentences/words, and integrated it with online translator service Tools and Technologies             ColdFusion, ASP, HTML, JavaScript, ADO, IIS, MS SQL, Platforms: WinNT The solution supports distributed architecture; the data is automatically synchronized between several locations using MS SQL standard methods. Interface with CIEL is written in ColdFusion. Benefits ·         Significantly reduced operation costs ·         Reduced order processing cycle time ·         Faster order turnaround

Types of Web-Based Systems

Types of Web-Based Systems Abstract This paper discusses different types of web-based systems in its importance to bus...

USABILITY TEST OF COVENTRY AIRPORT WEBSITE

USABILITY TEST OF COVENTRY AIRPORT WEBSITE 1 INTRODUCTION             Interface analysis is a process of assessing the man and machine interface or relationship more particularly a system, product or device (2005). There are many interface analysis methods that are used in assessing numbers of various features and characteristics that are related to a given interface that include its usability, user satisfaction, layout, error, labeling and other controls and displays that have been used. The results of any interface analysis are useful in improving the interface problems or flaws through its redesigning process. The process of interface analysis together with its different method are used in enhancing and improving the performance of the design, features and function by developing its usability, user satisfaction rate and even in helping to reduce or prevent errors and interaction time (2005).             Usability of the software is required by the ISO9241-11 and it is considering that the usability of any software or system is based on the three dimensions: effectiveness deals with how well the product or the system’s performance meet the tasks that it was designed for; efficiency deals with the resources like time, effort and money that are required for the user to use the product or the system; and the last is the attitude or the respond of the users to the product or the system (2005).             There are many methods that are used in interface analysis like the usability assessment, error analysis, interface layout analysis and general interface assessment methods ( 2005). 2 USABILITY ASSESSMENTS             Usability engineering is the practice that is used in accounting for the usability traits throughout product development. On the other hand, usability assessment is the approach that can be used in order to ensure that a product or a system is useful. The said assessment had been widely used because of the output of the development of the software user interfaces during the 1980s (2004). But it was 1985 when it had reach its popularity when  and  described the four needs of software or system to ensure usability that are: to create an early and constant focus on users; to incorporate and put together the different deliberation of all aspects of usability; to test the early and continuous version of the product to the user; and to redesign (2004).             The main purpose of usability assessment is to determine if there are difficulties about the usefulness of the system to the user and eventually to help uncover opportunities for enhancement and change (2004).              (1994), explained that there are eleven approaches or method that can be used in assessing the usability of a certain product, system or software namely: the participatory design, the expert evaluations; the walk-throughs; the paper and pencil; the focus group; the survey; the alpha and beta tests; the follow-up studies; the usability audit; the usability test; and the research study ( 2004). All of the said methods or approaches are used in evaluating and assessing different products, software and systems. 3 HEURISTIC ANALYSIS             Heuristic is considered as one of the simplest way as well as the most popular way of doing the interface analysis because it involves obtaining the subjective opinions of analyst/s based on their observation upon their interaction with a given product, system or software (2005, .).  and  defined heuristic evaluation as a usability engineering method that is use in finding the usability problems in a user interface design to produce a report or analysis that will help to include in the iterative design process (.).             In performing heuristic analysis, an analyst or end user will perform a trial session of the system, software, device or product under analysis and create an observation with regards to the usability, quality and potential error of the design (2005,). More often than not, this method is done by more than one speculator or evaluator to get the desired outcome of the method. Most often, this method is done by individual inspector alone, all of their reactions and ideas about the user interface will be aggregated in order to prevent bias and promote efficient and professional analysis of the system (.). The output or the result of the problems of the system with regards to its usability problem or those characteristics and features that will affect the user-friendliness of the system as a whole. The result must show the usability principle that has been violated by the design in each and every case with regards to the opinion of the evaluator. It is not enough to say that the design of a particular system or software did not meet their expectation but to explain it based on the heuristics or other usability results (). 3.1 The Usability Heuristics              stated that there are ten common or overall principles that are applied in the user interface design. The said ten principles are also called the heuristics due to the fact that they are in the nature of thumb rules rather than the specific usability guidelines (.). The said principles serve as a standard or guidelines in conducting the heuristics analysis. The following are the then usability heuristics: <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> System status Information – this principle caters to the ability and features of the system or the user interface design to inform the user regarding what is going on with the system itself and its ability to return feedback to the users within a sensible and rational time ( .). </li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> System and the real world balance – this principle focus on the needs of the user to understand or communicate to the machine, software or system in more easy and user-friendly manner (.).</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> User control and freedom – this must consider the situation where the user will be able to do a mistake with regards to the function of the system, that is why the system must make sure that there are available emergency exit for the user as well as should offer the features of undo and redo ().</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Standards and Consistency– this principle provide reliability and uniformity of the entire system. It must use same words, terms, situations or actions for a given same thing (.).</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Error Trapping and Prevention – error prevention is one of the most important aspects of any system, software as well as device. Error prevention is one of the primary techniques that enable to show the limitations of the system software or device. An error trapping technique must be implemented in any software or device in order to prevent future more hazardous problems ().</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Identification rather than recall – this principle focus on the perception of the user with regards to the system, this is because people are better in identifying and recognizing thing than memorizing it ().</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Flexibility and efficiency of use – this principle will handle the classification of the user as the experienced or experts to the inexperienced or beginners and even intermediates (). </li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Aesthetic and minimalist design – this principle focus on the data or information that is included in the system. It must also give importance to the creativeness of the entire software or system ().</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Ability to assist users to recognize, diagnose and recover from certain error – system must show different system errors using the plain or human language to help them understand it more easily (.).</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Documentation and help assistance – this is the principle that focuses on the enquiry or questions of the users with regards to the system and all its features (.).</li> 4 THE COVENTRY AIRPORT WEBSITE             Conventry.com is the official website of the Coventry airport that is located in the south of the Coventry City in the vicinity of the village of Baginton, Warwickshire, England. Like any other businesses in the same field the said company has already used the advantage of the e-business as their marketing strategy in order to target more customers in more easy and cost-effective way which is to establish a website that will cater to the booking and reservation needs of their customers.             The website is also offering different services such as flight information, travel to the airport, car parking, passenger’s facilities, car hire, hotel reservation and airport news. They also included the job opportunity information of the company.     5 USABILITY ISSUES AND PROBLEMS             The following are the flaws and problems that have encountered in the Coventry airport website using the heuristic analysis: 5.1 Aesthetic and minimalist design () Figure 1 Coventry Airport Website (HOME)             One of the most important factors that must be considered before designing applications, software and website is the color combination. As you can see in figure 1, the website is using the color combination of shades of blue, red and shades of green as well as gray. The color combination of the said website is not bad, for those users who are suffering from any visual impairment.              The color combinations that have been used by the said website are not appropriate for those people who are suffering from color blindness or color vision deficiencies. The said visual impairment deals with the inability to recognize and distinguish the difference between a numbers of colors that other people can. According to Rigden, there are more or less 8% of the male populations in the world who are suffering from the said visual problem (2005). The said visual impairment is rare among the woman. Color blindness has its variety; according to  (2000), the most common form of the said visual impairment, and occurs in 5% of the male population, is the weakness or sensitivity over the color green. Therefore, the website, as shown in figure 1, shows that it will not cater to the needs of those 5% population (2005).             Another important factor that covers the design and aesthetic issue of the website is its use of its font size and type. Some of the font type and size that the website is using are hard enough to visualize. Also, the font color is also hard to see and can be categorize that the website is somewhat straining to the eyes.             Another thing is the size of the image of the map that shows the different destination from the Coventry, again the font size and font type is small. The size of the image is also small and didn’t fit the space that is somewhat allocated for that said image. That is why there are lots of white space that are available in the home page of the website.     5.2 Flexibility and efficiency of use Figure 2 The Search for Flight Option             Figure 2 shows the search option of the website that will help the user to easily search for specific flight that is based on their personal preferences. But one thing that is not good in this feature of the website is the possibility to confuse the users that are beginner in using computer its application. It is not very friendly for those first time users of the said features. It is not clear to the user the reason of those two combo boxes. The said feature has a poor labeling. 5.3 Error Trapping and Prevention and System status Information Figure 3 The from and to feature             One of the possible error that I have encountered in this website is from it’s “from – to” feature. The logic of the said feature is that, when the user select from the “from combo box”, which contains the different places of flight that the company can handle, the system will process the “to combo box” to show or return the different places that there company also handles. In simple words, there can be different destinations from a certain point or place that the company provides their services. For example, from the figure 3, it shows that the Coventry place has its 14 destination such as Alicante etc and the place Faro, on the other hand, has its only one destination which is the Coventry.             The problem is that the system is not producing or showing signs or hints to the user that it had completely populate the list of the destination places that the users have entered to the “from combo box”, and because of that, it has a big possibility that the user will enter the wrong destination place. 6. RECOMMENDATION             Based on the method that have been used in analyzing the current usability of the Coventry website, I have found out that there are three major flaws that have violated the usability heuristics or the principles that shows the different advantages or the characteristics of different software and system in order to meet the needs and demands of its users. 6.1 Aesthetic and minimalist design ()             The first and the major problem of the website is its presentation design and colors that have been used. The homepage of the website shows four different shades of colors that ranges from green, blue, red and gray. There are also other part of the website that uses the color red and color yellow as the main background color of the website. Just like what stated in the previous part of this paper, most of the colors that have been used in the website will not help those future users who has visual impairment, more particularly, the color blindness.             When selecting colors to be used in a Web site, it is significant and vital to consider that there are also segments or fractions of males and even females that may not be able to see the site in the way that the designer intended to ( 2005). In order to solve or prevent this dilemma, it is necessary to plan the color combination that the website will be using, like preventing to mix color red, green and blue. the site can also provide a feature that will give an option for those visually impaired people to change the color of the website or by allocating a color theme especially design for those cases.             As of the size and the type of the font, the website must use more visible and uniform font type, size and color. It must also use different size of font for heading, for the menu and for the content. 6.2 Flexibility and efficiency of use             As of the issue of the flexibility and efficiency of use, the website must practice the use of label or tag that will help the user to understand the system more easily and effectively. Like for example, the part of the “from - to” search. It must be clear to the user the use of any particular command or field in the system. It will be easy to understand if a label “From:” and label “To:” will be placed before the combo boxes. Figure 4 shows the sample of technique that can be used. Figure 4 Sample Labeling 6.3 Error Trapping and Prevention and System Status Information             Another problem about the website is about it’s the “from and to” feature that has the feature that have been discussed earlier. To prevent or solve this dilemma, the website can avail or use the disabled feature of the combo box. For example, after clicking or entering the value from the “from combo box”, eventually, the system will fetch or query the destined places or points that are available from that of the entered value to the “from combo box”, and because, it takes a while, before the system could return the value to the user, it will be helpful to set disabled the “to combo box”. By doing this, it will be understandable or clear to the user that the system is still working with the result of his or her desired request. This will help to prevent wrong input of the destined country. 7 THE USABILITY ANALYSIS AND THE HEURISTIC ANALYSIS             The main advantage of the heuristic analysis is that it enables to analyze the usability features and characteristics of a system, software or products with the use of different perspective. In a user test situation, with the use of the said method, the observer or also known as the experimenter has their full responsibilities of the user’s interpretation based on their actions in order to conclude on how those actions are related and connected to the issues of the usability of the design of the user interface (.).             Another important aspect of this method is that it follows the 10 principles of usability heuristics, in analyzing the usability and the problems and flaws with regards to the design of the system. The said principles which are stated in the previous part of the study, serves as a guide or hint for the evaluator or experimenter to connect the characteristics of a given system, software and device to the standard and acceptable distinctiveness of the system as a whole.             Using the website of the Coventry airport, the result of the usability test which I have conducted was mainly focus on the physical design of the system. The problem that I have specified in the said website or system is based on the principles that the website have violated. I have also related my own perception to the studies and perceptions of other authors who has much knowledge with regards to the interaction of the system and the user. Another thing is that I have based the findings to the PACT or People, Activities, Context and Technology analysis of the website, but more particularly to the people, that focuses on their perception, knowledge and sight.             One of the difficulties of this method is that, it is a systematic method; therefore, you have to look at every side or every aspect of the website to ensure that what you have produces or observed as dependable and reliable.

USABILITY TEST OF COVENTRY AIRPORT WEBSITE

USABILITY TEST OF COVENTRY AIRPORT WEBSITE 1 INTRODUCTION Interface analysis is a process of assessing the man and machi...

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