Ideas for Project

Greetings. I was reading through the assignment and I have an idea--but it has do with the non-profit sector. All of my career has been in non-profits--so this is where my mind goes. I know that you all probably are not familiar with NPOs and the way we do business and run our databases--so, I would be interested in hearing everyone else's ideas before I hijack the project.

Good Afternoon Everyone,

I, too, work in the non-profit sector :-) Regardless of our existing knowledge, or careers, I think that it might be a good idea to keep our topic fairly simple at this juncture. If we do, we will have the opportunity to clearly and explicitly demonstrate our knowledge of ACID and other concepts in our reading this week. I thought that a "web enabled" calorie counter might be a good simple start. Just a thought! Here is a draft of the idea...


Database Idea

Company XYZ seeks to provide registered users with a web-based, easy-to-use, and simple caloric intake and caloric burn personal tracker. In order to fulfill the expressed needs of the company, a relational database would be required. The first table or series thereof based on food category, whose data would fulfill caloric intake calculations, would consist of food items. Columns (fields) would contain calorie values for potential measurements (1/2 cup, 1 table spoon, etc.). For items that could not be measured by a specific quantity, the value would be null. Each row of data, which corresponded to a single item, would contain a unique identifier (1, 2, 3, 4, etc.). The unique identifier would help to ensure that query-based data retrievals were correct. A similar table would contain calories burned associated with different activities at different intervals. In order to manage users, another table would contain a unique user id, username, encrypted password, and similar data (such as security question answers). Two additional tables would store the actual user data. Each event (addition of food intake or exercise completed) would be inserted using the user’s unique id and calorie value.

The inclusion of unique IDs for each event and item would allow the programmer to effectively and efficiently join various tables to provide thorough, accurate, and comprehensive data. Additionally, users and administrators would be able to modify individual records through a simple interface. As an example, if user Bob Bobberton added 1 Hour of 8mph Treadmill to his profile in error, he could simply edit or delete that specific event. If an administrator had a need to update any of the food or exercise items, they could likewise interact with a simple user interface.

Business Strategy / Revenue Generation

The intersection of an increasingly connected world and health has seen profound advancements over the past few years. Diet websites, smart scales, and phone applications have all been developed to help users help themselves lose weight, track health metrics, and more. While simple tools exist to aid users in tracking the calories they eat, and what they expend, many solutions fail to provide users with meaningful, practical, and simple suggestions for a better self and better health. A suggestion to enjoy a handful of whole raw almonds, rather than a tablespoon of peanut butter, could help a user to learn new habits and satiating practices. In order to generate revenue, certified and vetted advertisers (whose products explicitly matched a suggestion) could be exposed to users. In the whole raw almonds example, a list of potential sources of the treat could be shown to the user (Bergin Nut Co., Truly Raw, etc.). Additional sources of revenue could be gained by providing an association based “You may also like…” suggestion series based on user-contributed brands and foodstuffs.


Kind Regards,
Abi

Group,
Here are a few ideas:
DJ song database and reservation system - clients can find open dates and times to hire and book DJ for his/her services. There is also a database of songs where the client can pick what song must be played and what song are no not be played.

Photographer: database to again book and reserve day and times. Database could also be used to upload photos to web and allow clients to choose what photos they want to order and what size to print ordered photos.

That's what I've got for now.

Kami

I really like the calorie counter idea. I would be comfortable moving forward with this idea if everyone else is.

Sounds good to me as well!

Kami

I'm down with that. I really haven't been coming up with much so it sounds good to me. Also, I'm really into health and fitness, so it's a double dose

Okay, so we need to answer all of this:

Describe your database idea. This should be at least a two paragraphs to start with. You may need to expand or restrict your idea. An example would be an airline reservation system. You are NOT allow to use the airline reservation system suggestion your team needs to come up with something dirrectent. :-)
System development cycle will be outlined clearly. Each of the sub categories will be included. This is ALL fiction that you create and control. This is the best part of the project you create everything!

- Strategy and Analysis for a business or idea that you plan to develop.
- Analysis of the current system. What do they have? What business projections do they have?
- Integration with other systems. Plan for.
- Documentation and Communication. Describe how this vital part will be accomplished.
- Design for changes. Plan for the future.

Finally, Do not recreate the wheel. What do they have in place that you can use?

1. Describe your database idea. This should be at least a two paragraphs to start with. You may need to expand or restrict your idea. An example would be an airline reservation system. You are NOT allow to use the airline reservation system suggestion your team needs to come up with something dirrectent. :-)

Company XYZ seeks to provide registered users with a web-based, easy-to-use, and simple caloric intake and caloric burn personal tracker. In order to fulfill the expressed needs of the company, a relational database would be required. The first table (or series thereof), whose data would fulfill caloric intake calculations, would consist of food items. Columns (fields) would contain calorie values for potential measurements (1/2 cup, 1 table spoon, etc.). For items that could not be measured by a specific quantity, the value would be null. Each row of data, which corresponded to a single item, would contain a unique identifier (1, 2, 3, 4, etc.). The unique identifier would help to ensure that query-based data retrievals were correct. A similar table would contain calories burned associated with different activities at different intervals. In order to manage users, another table would contain a unique user id, username, encrypted password, and similar data (such as security question answers). Two additional tables would store the actual user data. Each event (addition of food intake or exercise completed) would be inserted using the user’s unique id and calorie value.
The inclusion of unique IDs for each event and item would allow the programmer to effectively and efficiently join various tables to provide thorough, accurate, and comprehensive data. Additionally, users and administrators would be able to modify individual records through a simple interface. As an example, if user Bob Bobberton added 1 Hour of 8mph Treadmill to his profile in error, he could simply edit or delete that specific event. If an administrator had a need to update any of the food or exercise items, they could likewise interact with a simple user interface.

A. Strategy and Analysis for a business or idea that you plan to develop.
The intersection of an increasingly connected world and health has seen profound advancements over the past few years. Diet websites, smart scales, and phone applications have all been developed to help users help themselves lose weight, track health metrics, and more. While simple tools exist to aid users in tracking the calories they eat, and what they expend, many solutions fail to provide users with meaningful, practical, and simple suggestions for a better self and better health. A suggestion to enjoy a handful of whole raw almonds, rather than a tablespoon of peanut butter, could help a user to learn new habits and satiating practices. In order to generate revenue, certified and vetted advertisers (whose products explicitly matched a suggestion) could be exposed to users. In the whole raw almonds example, a list of potential sources of the treat could be shown to the user (Bergin Nut Co., Truly Raw, etc.). Additional sources of revenue could be gained by providing an association based “You may also like…” suggestion series based on user-contributed brands and foodstuffs.

B. Analysis of the current system. What do they have? What business projections do they have?
In the status quo, Company XYZ has a static website that offers visitors information on calories in food items and calories burned for various activities. While the information provided is useful, the current website provides no interactivity, personalization, or tracking capabilities. Company XYZ currently receives more than 8,000 visits per month. On average, 72% of their visitors are returning. These analytics suggest that the company has both popularity and visitor loyalty. The Company has assumed that this loyalty will directly translate into both a strong initial subscriber base and, within the first three months of launch, a growth in popularity and use. The demonstrable, long-term, and loyal subscriber analytics thus far will enable the company to successfully sell advertising space for food items, fitness equipment, and other highly relevant items. By providing individualized (and thus highly relevant) ads to visitors, the company is confident that such advertising will both result in sustained revenue and benefit the health and well being of patrons.

C. Integration with other systems. Plan for.
The proposed website, consisting of both an administrative and standard user interface, is database-driven. By employing a modular design, the website and supporting databases will be highly scalable. This flexibility should enable the new website to be easily integrated with other tools and expanded over time.

D. Documentation and Communication. Describe how this vital part will be accomplished.
The entirety of the system, including both the website front-end and database back-end, would be wire-framed for Company XYZ. The wire-framing process will help to demonstrate the flow of information, user experience, and administrative potential without exposing the Company to unnecessarily complex technical details. During the development and design phases, usability testing would be conducted with small groups of volunteers who were representative of the Company’s existing known customer base. Those tests would help to both provide direction for improvement, and offer third-party validation for the interface proposed. All communications between the firm and the Company would include succinct, digestible, and proven data. Additionally, diagrams, charts, and other visual aids would be employed to help demystify the entirety of the process.

E. Design for changes. Plan for the future.

As noted in section C, the fundamental structure of the tool is intended to be highly adaptable. If a new feature, such as weight tracking, was desired by users, such a feature could easily be added by using the principles established in the initial design. The separation of various data types, in conjunction with the use of unique IDs for each individual record, would ensure that the system could be altered without undermining the integrity or utility of existing data.

F. Finally, Do not recreate the wheel. What do they have in place that you can use?

Company XYZ’s greatest asset is their customers. The company has been collecting robust demographic data on their customers for years, through both their website and their corresponding social networking presences. These data will be critical in determining the final design, and subsequent success, of the tool. The Company likewise has a vastly comprehensive dataset of calorie values for various food items, and physical activities, which are demonstrably accurate. As those data are currently presented in a tabular format, they can easily be exported into a CSV and smoothly imported into the proposed database structure.
This is all fiction that you create so do not get hung up on one of the required items listed. All six items will need to be addressed in the final document.

I was just logging on to answer some of those questions. We need to clearly define our SDLC. How do we want to represent this? From how I interpreted the assignment--we need to have an outline--not just answer the questions. Am I completely off base and still suffering the effects of my migraine?

I think that our assignment guidelines are rather vague, which of course leaves plenty of room for interpretation. If you have any thoughts as to how the outline ought to be structured, please do not hesitate to share. We're working now with an extremely limited timeline, so any input will be immensely beneficial.



Simple Outline (PDF)

I too was writing up stuff to post as well, but it looks like you beat both of us to it! Sorry Abi, we should set some deadlines so that we as a team know when to get things posted by as I have horrible anxiety and have been stressing alot about this not already being farther along. So is everyone fine with setting up a group timeline/deadline maybe Monday after this assignment is taken care of. I think it would help a lot. I'd also like to have this finished by tomorrow evening if possible as waiting till Monday would put me behind.

Back to the topic.

Peggy - what else do you think we need to have? What are you concerned that is missing?
I general I think that this is actually a lot since nothing has really been explained to us and no templates for how to present it have been provided.

Group - My main concerns are these:
What exactly does our company do? What is there purpose or business statement? They make money by advertising places to buy health food or are they a gym, or a health food store, or ??

What does our calorie counter do that sets us apart from the hundreds of other calorie counter apps and websites out there that allow you to track your intake and exercise?

I think it might be a great combination if one of the future integrated systems was a recipe sections, which could also give you the aisles in which to find the items from the recipe on your grocery list for the menu you planned. It could also have a list of local gyms that provide classes for the type of exercise that is your favorite or a how-to set of instructions for exercises.

Maybe I'm going out of the box, I just wondered what we could add to make ours different from all the others out there and give us a company and why they have the calorie counter. Example: A grocery store could have it so that you can get the recipes and more easily find the ingredients as they provide the aisle numbers for each thing needed. or... A gym that gives exercises to help you achieve your goals by providing exercises to get the expended calories that you need.

I think what Abi has written so far is very good. My only suggestions are those above and a company name, which would probably be determined by what type of company it is.

Abi - also did you add a pdf attachment? It looked like it but it came over as just a line of text.

Do we know are we only turning in one of these per group or do we all turn in the exact same one?

Kami

Kami:

I believe you were in my Internet Concepts & Structures class last quarter. I remember that class being very heavily business-oriented, so I feel like you might still be in that mindset. Everything is fictitious at this point, and I believe that this class is more technologically-oriented, meaning frankly, I don't think the professor will care about what sets apart our design from the competition. I think we are going to be graded most on the functionality of our project. Installing oracle this week, to me, means we will be relying heavily on learning back-side server languages in PHP, SQL and maybe even some AJAX (hopefully).

All that to be said, I like your idea of possibly incorporating a recipe function. Maybe if someone searches for an item (ex spinach), there could be a couple of suggestions like Spinach dip, spinach salads, etc. Since it is all fictitious at this point, I don't see why we can't shoot for the stars, and who knows, maybe it won't be that hard to implement into a final project.

Group:
As for the outline structure, the "outline" I posted earlier with the questions for us to answer was taken directly from the assignment tab, so I believe as long as we follow that, I don't see why we could be docked points. If he wants a specific outline format, then he should say so.

At the end of the instructions for this week: "This is all fiction that you create so do not get hung up on one of the required items listed. All six items will need to be addressed in the final document. I am not expecting a full blown SDLC this week. This is a start. You need to create your outline and how you will manage each section. Each section will need to be address for full credit."

Abi, thanks for everything you posted. Life saver.

Hopefully Deana will log on and share some input as well.

Then I don't really have any changes. Anyone got ideas for a company name?

Kami

Just to be clear, that is all my speculation and observation... I'm not saying I'm right and you're wrong. I just don't want to make it any harder than it needs to be to get an A. Does anyone else have an opinion on it?

As for a name...

Something like Nutrisource?

I feel like I haven't contributed at all this week. So, if you would like me to type up the document and format it, I would be more than happy to do that tomorrow and submit it. I apologize for my lack of participation. I will be more helpful in the coming weeks--it has been a rough couple of days. Please feel free to task me with whatever you feel is necessary, as well. I take direction and feedback well. Let me know if you would like me to proceed...

Peggy

That name is good with me.
Thank you Peggy!
Kami

Good Morning Everyone,

I would be happy to format the document and add additional citations from Penrose and some of our other resources. I’ll be working on a new draft document and will post it by (hopefully) 4:00pm MST today. All that has been posted thus far was, of course, total “rough draft” style.

Kami: The Simple Outline (PDF) text is a hyperlink to a PDF that I hosted externally. We will have plenty of time, I’m sure, to more fully elaborate on why our company will be different than the many other sites out there. We have lots of time to think about that. Out of the gate, I would say that our advertisement and suggestion schemes are our most profound uniqueness. If people use our company’s website, or mobile app (eventually), they won’t see “Cell Phone Running Slow? Click here!” or “She dropped 40 pounds without dieting. Find out more!” they will see an advertisement that is specifically designed to help them make a health-oriented decision or purchase based on their demonstrated habits and preferences.

If we do not want to use a general company name in our initial assignments, we can easily come up with something.

Name: Calorie Chronicle
Tagline: Simple. Easy. Personal.


Kind Regards,
Abi

Abi,
If you would like to finish formatting the document for this week, that is great. You definitely did the lion's share of the work this week--so next week you can rest a little. thank you. Let me know if you need anything. I will log on later to review.

Peggy

Good work team, glad to get it done today!

Abi - Thank you for all your work and for posting it to the professor. Will you let us know when it's officially submitted?

Thanks!
Kami

Good Afternoon Everyone,

As all of our grades are implicated in this process, I thought that getting a "yes, let's do it" from everyone would be ideal. Please see the following link:
http://abixel.com/4300ICT/ONeal-Abi-Group-Project-Week2.pdf

Yes, nice work!

Thanks again for submitting,
Kami

It has been hours, and we only have one go ahead. That is by no means a consensus, but (no offense to our 10pm deadline) I have a lot of other things to get done today. Submission is being made in a few minutes. If a major issue is discovered, please report before 6:00pm and I will submit a revision.

Agreed, go for it! No need to wait till 10pm I just put the end of day time and basically the lastest I'd ever want to work on it, maybe we should move it up to a 5 or 6pm so our Sunday nights are hw free??? I'd like that.

Kami

I meant to log on earlier and approve--but I won't bore you with the issues I've been having today. Thank you both. I really appreciate it.

Peggy

Thanks you all. I like the activity level of our team! Hard to keep up with, but that's not a bad thing. I guess Deana is not participating, though?