Details of Assignment question (Full Question) as below:
Table of Contents
WISDM…………………………………………………………………………...3
A) WISDM Stage 1 - Organizational Analysis……………………………. 4
B) WISDM Stage 2 – Work Design…………………………………….….. 7
C) WISDM Stage 3 – Information Analysis………………………..………. 9
D) WISDM Stage 4 – Technical Design…………………………..….…… 11
E) WISDM Stage 5 – Human Computer Interaction………………………15
SUMMARY…………………………………………………………………..….19
REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………20
WISDM
WISDM (Web IS Development Methodology) supports an even-handed approach to IS development, where a broad socio-technical solution is sought. The general framework for WISDM recognizes three interacting elements: the change agents, the situation, and the ISD methods. WISDM focuses on the methods matrix (shown in the accompanying figure below), which categorizes methods in two dimensions: socio (a concern with the organization and individuals) and technical (a concern with the ‘things’), and analysis (‘what’ is required) and design (‘how’ it will be achieved).
WISDM itself is an amalgamation of soft and hard systems approaches and its supports traditional techniques for analysis and design while focusing on HCI and interface construction. The WISDM method matrix is centred on the belief that socio and technical aspects of the Web IS Development should not be dealt with in isolation, but rather through mediation.
As such, negotiation is needed between the technological, organizational and people aspects and a good methodology must allow for all three aspects.
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The WISDM methodology can be categorized into FIVE (5) phases as shown in the figure above. Therefore, the task to reengineer the University of Malaya website by adopting the WISDM methodology will follow the aforesaid phases.
A) WISDM Stage 1 - Organizational Analysis
All companies, large and small, need to follow a pre-defined strategy in order to be competitive. The outcome of the organizational analysis is an understanding of how a system can create more value for the company. It must consider a wide range of stakeholders
The following checklist can be used to identify the organizational analysis of the University of Malaya’s website:
Strategic Organizational Analysis of the Website:
i) Business Strategy
• What business is the Organization in?
The organization is a Public Institution of Higher Education (University).
• What are the products and services?
The University’s mission is to advance knowledge and learning through quality research and education for the nation and for humanity. Its vision is also to be an internationally renowned institution of higher learning in research, innovation, publication and teaching.
ii) Sources of Revenue
• What are the sources of revenue?
The sources of revenue are from the government in the form of funds, loans, and grants, scholarships from various public and private organizations, as well as from the students’ fees.
• What are the benefits to the business?
The funding and fees helps the university to increase and upgrade the facilities, resources and amenities in order to provide an excellent and conducive environment for the students.
iii) Who are the Customers?
Its customers consist mainly of students and interested parties.
iv) Who are the Competitors?
Its competitors are made up of other public and private universities or colleges locally or abroad.
v) Marketing Strategy (how to compete)
• What is the Organization’s marketing strategy?
One way is to offer marketable programs which are updated occasionally to meet the needs of the nation and the international market demands. Information about these programs must be accurate, up-to-date, well advertised and promoted in the website in order to capture the prospective students’ interest and attention.
• Therefore, in order to stay competitive and to maintain a good world ranking, one criteria is to own a website which holds accurate, quality, up-to-date information which can be easily accessed and navigated.
Below is a Rich Picture to illustrate the Organizational Analysis of UM.
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External interested parties Relationship
Major concern
B) WISDM Stage 2 – Work Design
This stage has been dedicated to establishing the features that are most valued by Web users, particularly in the context of customer service and will to identify what it is that gives a website a feeling of usability and quality. One way to measure the usability and quality of the website is to come up with a usability questionnaire which is a useful way of avoiding biasness when asking for opinion. In fact, a good idea would be to publish this questionnaire on the University of Malaya’s website itself and request the users/respondents to respond to the survey.
Usability Questionnaire
A usability questionnaire should be drawn up and whose content would be based on the WebQual measurement instrument which is used to “assess e-commerce offerings against a range of qualities using a 7-point Likert scale….. related to usability, information, interaction and convergence (the overall view of the Website)’’ (Avison & Fitzgerald, 2003)
The table below shows the WebQual Questions that can be applied to measure the University Malaya’s Website for its quality in design, navigability and information:
CIRCLE YOUR SCORE
| | |
|USABILITY | |
| |Strongly |Disagree |Neutral |Agree |Strongly |
| |Disagree | | | |Agree |
|2. My interaction with the site is clear and |1 |2 |3 |4 |5 |
|understandable | | | | | |
|3. I find the site easy to navigate |1 |2 |3 |4 |5 |
|4. I find the site easy to use |1 |2 |3 |4 |5 |
|5. The site has an attractive appearance, |1 |2 |3 |4 |5 |
|appealing and uncluttered. | | | | | |
|6. The design is appropriate to the type of |1 |2 |3 |4 |5 |
|site | | | | | |
|7. The site conveys a sense of competency |1 |2 |3 |4 |5 |
|8. The site create a positive experience for |1 |2 |3 |4 |5 |
|me | | | | | |
| | |
|INFORMATION | |
| |Strongly |Disagree |Neutral |Agree |Strongly |
| |Disagree | | | |Agree |
|10. Provides believable information |1 |2 |3 |4 |5 |
|11. Provides timely information |1 |2 |3 |4 |5 |
|12. Provides relevant information |1 |2 |3 |4 |5 |
|13. Provides easy to understand |1 |2 |3 |4 |5 |
|information | | | | | |
|14. Provides information at the right level |1 |2 |3 |4 |5 |
|of detail | | | | | |
|15. Presents the information in an |1 |2 |3 |4 |5 |
|appropriate format | | | | | |
| | |
|INTERACTION | |
| |Strongly |Disagree |Neutral |Agree |Strongly |
| |Disagree | | | |Agree |
|17. Conveys a sense of community |1 |2 |3 |4 |5 |
|18. Makes it easy to communicate with the |1 |2 |3 |4 |5 |
|organization | | | | | |
|19. I feel confident that the services will be |1 |2 |3 |4 |5 |
|delivered as promised. | | | | | |
|20. Has a professional look and feel |1 |2 |3 |4 |5 |
| | |
|CONVERGENCE | |
| |Poor |Below Average |Average |Good |Very Good |
I have listed 21 questions to be used as a measure in a survey questionnaire in order to garner responses from the UM website users. I have personally circled the scores of my choice based on my experiences in browsing thorough the UM website. Based on the above questions, the website users/respondents can indicate how important a feature or quality was to them. They can do their assessment on the website’s look, feel and design quality.
The questions were based on the look, feel and attractiveness of design in order to understand the seemingly intangible connection between design and usability - what creates a rewarding experience for one user may become a nightmare experience for another.
This point to the fact that designers of certain websites may not have taken the user’s needs into account fully or that complexity distracts that too much content must be displayed on screen causing the user to feel overwhelmed. If the site’s purpose is to keep staff, students and interested parties informed about matters concerning the University, perhaps professional quality and an attractive appearance with dynamic features has no bearing on its ability to meet this purpose.
The usability questionnaire will provide the unbiased answers needed by the Web designers in order to reengineer the UM website to suit the users as well as to maintain the quality of information, design and usability of the website.
C) WISDM Stage 3 – Information Analysis
The University will need to formulate a complete requirements specification which is comprehensive and covers the specific needs of the users, system administration requirements, functional and non-functional requirements as well as the system’s requirements.
Most users browsing the UM website would like to see requirements such as good quality and integration of information, fast response time, good navigability, easy of use, portability, robustness and availability, completeness, efficiency, interoperability and consistency. Requirements specifications for the website can also be formulated based on the results of the usability questionnaire as well as extensive research on website development by the designers.
In the future, it would be excellent if the UM Website could integrate with other UM-related websites such the Pascasiswazah website. These websites could all be integrated into one single Portal and this would make navigability and ease-of-use more efficient. Should these websites link into one Portal, the university would need to look into requirements issues such as ethical, privacy and security requirements. Legislative requirements would also need to be met as the university falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia.
The website must be available and accessible at all times and should overcome its server downtime/failure as much as possible. Minimizing server downtime would inevitable increase efficiency, usability, performance and reliability requirements. This would ultimately lead to a high-level user satisfaction as they will be pleased with the services rendered by the UM website.
In my personal experience when browsing the Um website, I so find certain redundant information and duplicated information. Duplicated links and redundant information should be eliminated as it adds confusion and might irate the website users. A user will also feel a sense of having a ‘cramp style’ if the website has too much information on one single page.
Modelling the Required System
With the requirements laid out, they must now be converted into more precise models to show the structure and behaviour of the proposed system. WISDM recommends the use of the object-oriented Unified Modelling Language (UML) for this purpose. Object orientation delivers many benefits over more traditional methods in that systems built using this approach are more likely to be “robust and error-free, and quicker and cheaper to achieve” (Avison and Fitzgerald, 2003, p247)
The hierarchy chart below contains an overview of diagramming techniques employed by the UML which can be used to model and sufficiently document the required structure and behaviour of the web application.
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D) WISDM Stage 4 – Technical Design
The fourth stage of the WISDM methodology matrix marks the start of the Design Phase and involves designing the software system that has been proposed during the Analysis Phase. Stage 4 concentrates on the proposed architecture as well as the relational data model that will be mapped onto a physical web system during implementation.
Logically, the type of architecture that will be use for the system is a three-tiered approach as this offers a degree of simplicity when selecting implementation tools by separating the main components of the system into manageable layers.
“A 3-tier architecture is the most common approach used for the web applications today….the Web browser acts as the client, application server (such as macromedia ColdFusion) handles the business logic, and a separate tier (such as Oracle or MySQL database servers) handles database functions.” (Macromedia Corp., 2003)
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Database Design
This section shows a view of how the logical and physical relational data models will be produced from the UML designs created during analysis. A relational data schema is more suited to support this web application as it is more applicable to handle the non-data complex within the UM website as in contrast to an OO database which is more suited to handle complex data such as three dimensional graphical design models.
One of the most popular ways of representing relational database design is through the ER diagrams. ER diagrams depict entities, the attributes of entities and the relationships between the various entities.
Internet and Implementation Technologies:-
Hypertext and the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP)
Hypertext is a concept to allow the effective sharing of a electronic documents over a network. Hypertext documents contain content that can be linked to content in other hypertext documents, thus forming a ‘web’ of linked documents. In order for files held on a computer to be accessed by another computer over the Web, the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is used to govern the transaction.
A HTTP daemon program is usually installed on a web server and waits passively for a resource request from a client. When received, the request is resolved by the daemon and the resource document is returned to the client. This process is often invoked by the client via an Internet browser.
Internet Browser
An Internet browser is a complex piece of client-side software that aids navigation through the World-Wide Web. When a user enters the address of a Uniform Resource Locater (URL) or clicks on a hyperlink, the browser’s task is to retrieve the resource by sending a HTTP request to the host computer and displaying the returned resource.
Hypertext Markup Language (HTML)
HTML is a universal standard for controlling the formatting and display of hypertext documents through a browser. It is a simple text-based markup language consisting of ‘tags’ which indicate to the browser how to display hypermedia elements such as text, images etc.
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)
A style sheet is a single page of formatting instructions that can control the appearance of many HTML pages at once. By using a Cascading Style Sheet (CSS), the developer can specify all elements’ attributes, such as font style and size, in a single CSS document and then link each of the site documents to it. The site documents then displays the uniformed style contained in the CSS document, making design changes fast and efficient.
JavaScript
A powerful scripting language which can extra functionality to HTML and handle a wide range if tasks, from validating a HTML form to user events such as mouse clicks and text input.
E) WISDM Stage 5 – Human Computer Interaction
The final part of the WISDM matrix concerns Human Computer Interaction (HCI), particularly Web Usability. WISDM’s support for this aspect, separate from the technical data design, is what makes it an ideal methodology for Web system development, in that the all important end-user experience is considered and enhance to increase the chances of the system being successful. This section will discuss the HCI and usability as well as the concepts if design techniques.
HCI and Web Usability
“The Web is the ultimate customer-empowering environment. He or she who clicks the mouse gets to decide everything. It is so easy to go elsewhere; all the competitors in the world are but a mouse click away.” (Nielsen, 2000)
User Interface: Webpage and Content Design
The immediate HCI concern from a Web perspective is the physical design and layout of the pages that constitute a Website. As the Web has become increasingly geared up for advanced multimedia such as audio and video, page design has moved away from plain text, and suites have become cluttered with designs and many moving images to distract the user. However, other barriers to usability include font-face, colour schemes and layout for different browser types.
The UM homepage should display some pictures of the University’s famous landmarks, to create a sense of identity in the website. This will also help create a sense of pride amongst the existing students. Moreover, the name of the University and its accompanying logo should look outstanding as well. The colour schemes for the background, text etc. should be attractive and pleasant to the eye.
Vidgen et al (2002, p180-183) recommends the following for creating usable pages:
• Create a focal point – highlight text that is of major importance
• Don’t mix too many fonts – two should be enough (some non-standard fonts may not be installed on the user’s machine)
• Make good use if the screen area – don’t overcrowd or leave large portions blank
• Don’t use animated GIFs – they can become tedious and repetitive
• Don’t use complicated background images that obscure readability
• Spell check body text
• Don’t rely on colour alone to instruct the user
• Avoid the user of all upper-case text – users read it 10% slower
• Test the page in at least two popular Browsers – including Microsoft Internet Explorer 5 and later versions.
Text Description
Nielsen and Tahir (2002) also make an interesting point about the use of highly graphical content. If the graphics are removed, they argue that the user should still be able to make sense of the content, achieved by using the alt HTML attribute to add a text description of an image or by adding text-based links.
Navigational
An obvious element of usability is the navigational structure of a Website. A poor structure makes it almost impossible for users to find what they are looking for and leads to trial-and–error guessing or worse, the ‘lost in cyberspace’ syndrome. Nielsen (2000) prescribes a simple remedy for this situation, by using a three-point rule.
The user should know:
• Where they are
Informing a user where they are can be as simple as a prominent page title, but may also include making the link for the current page stand out or disabled in the main navigational menu. Also, the use of ‘bread-crumbing’ user navigation or ‘path analysis’ is useful to show the user’s path through the site and current position.
• Where they have been
Back buttons in the browser can address the question of where the user has been, although another approach is to utilize the browser’s standard colour scheme for visited hyperlinks (which would be purple in the case of Microsoft Internet Explorer).
• Where can they go
This can be resolved by using an intuitive central menu design that pervades all areas of the site or system. These ‘global’ menu bars typically run down the left-hand side of the page for simple sites, or across the top of the page for complex sites, with the left-hand menu supporting ‘local’ navigational links, relevant to the user’s current position. A current trend is the use of ‘menu tabs’ to highlight which area of the site a user is currently in.
The User’s Mental Model
The use of live user testing to demonstrate the strengths and weakness of Websites over the years has seen the growing importance usability to the success of a project. Whenever or wherever appropriate, a website may use metaphors and mental models to assist users in getting to the information they want quickly and with a minimum of effort. Metaphors draw on some aspect of the real world to represent the virtual world of the software system. Examples of metaphors include building or floor plans to represent parts of an organization or rich maps, such as the Disney website.
Once a user has gained brief experience of a Website, he or she will form a mental model of where objects, such as content, navigation and logos, are positioned on the screen and the meaning of different colours or link colours. Should the layout suddenly change, the user’s mental model will be shattered, leaving them confused and frustrated. An example of this would be menu positioning. If the menu seen on the Homepage is placed vertically along the left-hand side, it would disorientate the user if suddenly it switched to a vertical alignment along the top of the next screen.
Designing For Disabilities
Access to Websites should be made available to people with disabilities. An example would be text-reading software for the blind that converts the text to speech output. However, even if the user is only visually impaired or colourblind, using sensible colours that contrast well, such as black and white, and a reasonable font size will avoid potential usability problems. Audio content may also be provided with a transcript version or subtitles to aid deaf users, and similarly user with motor disabilities should not be forced to precisely position the mouse to use tiny text or image links.
Interface and Structural Design Process:
i) Navigational Flowcharts
The flexibility of the WISDM methodology is again demonstrated by its ability to blend in different development tools. The interface design will begin by creating flowcharts to show the intended structural hierarchy of the University of Malaya website, as well as the various navigational paths that users can take through the system. The structure or information architecture of a system should be designed with the goal of minimizing the number of clicks it takes to get from point A to point B.
ii) Storyboards
The final design stage will involve the planning of the system’s Web interfaces. For this, the storyboard technique will be used to mock-up the careen layout and give a feeling for the colour schemes, navigational system and content positioning. Storyboards can range in complexity from simple paper designs to more advanced semi-functional prototypes built using Microsoft PowerPoint or even Visual Basic.
The benefit of storyboards is that the designers can look into intangible issues such as look and feel. Other tools exist to add functionality to storyboards, such as SILK and DENIM. These tools are able to offer high level system structure views and a zoom feature to home in on individual page designs. Individual pages can be designed with a focus on the HCI and usability issues and are centered on the user requirements sourced from WISDM stage 2 and 3.
SUMMARY
Adopting the WISDM Methodology to reengineer the University of Malaya Website.
WISDM stages 1, 2 and 3 have provided the platform with which to conduct a detailed and thorough analysis investigation, resulting in a clear picture of what the required Website application should do in the eyes of the users. Stage 1 has helped identify the business strategy, while Stage 2 helped to identify the general usability requirements of both the website internal and external users. This has been fed into Stage 3, together with in-depth research conducted by the Webmasters to produce a blueprint of the proposed system and the intended prototype of that system, through the use of UML.
The great strength of WISDM is its flexibility to adapt and ability to incorporate other techniques in addition to those it recommends. Further techniques can be employed such as expressing the current situation or problem using Rich Picture and deriving the Root definition of relevant systems using SSM. Also, the use of the ETHICS methodology could be used here to identify more precisely, requirements for a highly usable system.
The research conducted as part of WISDM Stage 3 – Work Design, highlighted several important user-oriented design factors that are closely linked to HCI and Web Usability. These include ease of navigation and ease of operational learning. By taking the above HCI points into account during the interface and structural design process, these vital user benchmarks can be met to help ensure user acceptance. The flexibility of WISDM will allow the Website to take shape so that it meets both the functional requirements of the software and the more difficult goals of achieving a high degree of usability, incorporating good HCI.
By adopting the three-tiered approach, the data and business logic layers designed in Stage 4 were used directly in Stage 5 to plan both the navigational structure of the application and the interfaces that will sit on the top tier of the design, the presentation layer of the University of Malaya Website.
REFERENCES
1. Avison, D.E. & Fitzgerald, D.G. 2006, Information Systems Development: Methodologies, techniques and Tools, 4th Ed. McGraw- Hill.
2. Connolly, T. & Begg, C. 2002, Database Systems, 4th Ed, Addison-Wesley
3. Lazar, J. 2001, User-Centred Web Development, Jones & Bartlett Publishers
4. Mandel, T. 1997, The Elements of User Interface Design, John Wiley & Sons
5. Nielsen, J. 2000, Designing Web Usability, New Riders Publishing
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The Emphasis for each aspect
The Outcome for each aspect
Business data
(Database systems)
Business Logic (Server-Side Scripting)
Presentation (HTML)
Physical E/R Diagram
Logical E/R Diagram
Entity Relationship Diagram
DATABASE
Key (in this rich picture)
Think Bubble
Good Integration
Efficiency & Reliability
Fast Response time
Accurate & Updated Info
Good HCI, GUI & Design
UM Website Users
Ease of use
Other Issues
Easy navigation
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Usability &
Quality
Web Designers
UM
Ensure Website information is accurate and up-to-date
Reengineer Website
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To provide excellent Web services and facilities
Provide excellent Web usability features
UM SENIOR MANAGEMENT
Improve university’s ranking
a) Interested Parties
b) Other Universities
c) Other Colleges
d) General Public
Commitment to offer excellent environment and amenities
Diagrammatic Representation of 3-Tier System Architecture
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