Assignment 1 guide
General guides
Average length for the assignment 1 is 25 pages
Fonts: Calibri, Font size 12, Line spacing 1.3, use of : Headings, Paragraphs, Subsections and
illustrations as appropriate is required.
Complete and fill all required data in the Front page with scan digital signature.
o Table of contents
o List of Figures
o List of Tables
Introduction
o Introduce the project and explain what the project is all about
o Explain the problems that requires address and give solutions to the problems
o Talk about what the important parts of the assignment you will address
Body of the report
o P1, M1, D1
Conclusion
o The summary of the entire assignment that brings the report to a satisfying and logical end.
Evaluation
o You must provide your opinion or verdict on whether an argument, or set of research findings, is accurate.
o You can provide a SWOT about the course.
References
o Inline text citations are required (Sources of information)
o You must use Harvard referencing style for this report.
Assignment criteria
P1: Design a relational database system using appropriate design tools and
techniques, containing at least four interrelated tables, with clear statements of
user and system requirements.
Identify the problem to be solved by the relational database management system.
Design tables of entities and properties related to the problem.
Draw an Entity-Relationship Diagram (ERD) to illustrate the entities and the relationships
between them.
Design the tables needed in the database, the columns corresponding to the attributes, and
the data type for each column.
Set up primary keys and foreign keys to ensure data integrity.
Normalize the database to eliminate duplicate data and ensure data consistency.
Design the table about user requirements and system requirements for the database.
M1: Produce a comprehensive design for a fully-functional system, which includes interface and
output designs, data validations and data normalisation.
Produce mockups or wireframes for user interfaces (UI) based on user roles and
functionalities (e.g., separate UIs for administrators and regular users) by Balsamiq
Wireframes software.
Produce data validation rules to guarantee the accuracy and validity of data entered into the
system.
Test and optimize data queries to retrieve data efficiently.
D1: Evaluate the effectiveness of the design in relation to user and system requirements.
Compare the design to user and system requirements (Verification):
This involves a thorough review of the system design documents (e.g., architecture diagrams,
user stories) to ensure all functionalities and features meet the pre-defined user needs and
system objectives.
Ex: Let's say the user requirement specifies searching for products by name and price range.
During verification, you'd ensure the system design includes a search function with filters for
product name and price range.
Check the accuracy, integrity, and consistency of the data (Validation):
This step focuses on ensuring the data stored within the system is accurate (free of errors),
complete (no missing values), and consistent (follows defined rules and formats).
Ex: Imagine a system stores customer addresses. Validation would involve checking if
addresses have correct street names, postal codes, and follow a consistent format (e.g., city
before state).
Evaluate the performance of the system (Performance Testing):
Here, you assess the system's ability to handle user requests efficiently. This involves
measuring factors like data retrieval speed (how fast information is retrieved from the
database) and response time (how long the system takes to respond to user actions).
Ex: Performance testing could involve simulating a scenario with many users accessing the
system simultaneously. You'd then measure how long it takes for users to search for
information or complete tasks.
Analyze the weaknesses and suggest improvements to the design (Evaluation):
This step involves using the results from verification, validation, and performance testing to
identify any shortcomings in the system design. Based on the identified weaknesses, you can
propose enhancements to improve functionality, data management, or overall user
experience.
Ex: Evaluation might reveal that complex search queries take a long time to process. An
improvement suggestion could be to implement search indexing for faster retrieval of specific
data.
Perform testing to ensure the system works correctly as required (Testing):
This involves creating test cases that simulate real-world user interactions and system
functionalities. Running these tests helps uncover bugs, errors, or unexpected behavior in the
system before deployment.
Ex: A test case could involve logging into the system with different user permissions and
verifying access to specific features based on assigned roles. Another test case might focus on
entering invalid data into a form and checking if the system handles it appropriately (e.g.,
displaying error messages).
