System Development Methodology

This section outlines the general approach taken to system design. Details of the system are discussed in more detail later on throughout this chapter. After carrying out the literature review, the next stage was to create a prototype of the system. The method used to develop the system was a common method presented by Avison, and Shah [202]. Figure 3-2 shows the followed method.

Feasibility study System investigation System analysis System design Implementation Review and maintenance

Design the requirements, logic, diagrams, data flow

The stage of building and coding the system

Identification of problems and errors

The problem pointed out The system was given

the go-ahead Literature reviewed

Detailed specifications and reqirements

Figure 3-2: Methodology of the System Life Cycle

3.4.1 Feasibility study

The first issue that arises in the methodology of developing the system is to understand the problem and to investigate if the system is achievable. In other words in this

feasibility phase, the project as a whole is looked at including the estimated time it will take, and whether or not it can be done in the proposed time frame. Other factors such the availability of the technology that will be used to build the system and the possibility of learning within the time frame also need to be considered. The scope and objectives must be clearly stated prior to commencing the work.

3.4.2 System investigation

This phase looks at how other systems are built, the information needed, and the operation of the system. The needs of the user will also be investigated in this phase. No two systems are exactly alike in their requirements. However, there is a uniform and identifiable process for logically discovering the system requirements regardless of system purpose, size, or complexity [203]. Requirements are crucial to every project, without good requirements, projects fail, are late, come in over budget, or produce systems that are never used. Requirement issues should be fixed early, before committing to a design, because problems caused by poor requirements tend to be deeply embedded in the design and are difficult to remedy afterwards. Developers have a different perspective from users as they are looking at a requirement from the point of view of how to implement it rather than experiencing the problem that the users had in the first place. The safest way to ensure that the users' needs are met is to write down what the users need and what a system would have to do to meet that need. These are the user requirements and the system specifications respectively [204]

3.4.3 System analysis

The system requirement and the readings from the literature review need to be analysed. This phase combines the feasibility study and investigation study in order to assemble a detailed requirement and specification of the system being built. Flow charts and data flow diagrams were designed to aid the process. This stage is essentially preparation for the design phase which follows.

3.4.4 System design

There must be a step between the system investigation phase and the start of actual production. This intermediate stage is not redundant, and it is not unnecessary. Rather, it is an essential part of good software engineering. Design is an essential part of many activities, among them software engineering. It is a meaningful engineering representation of something that is to be built. It is also the blueprint for how that

system should be built. It can be traced to a set of requirements. Those requirements are then translated into a real educational web-based application through several stages. The design phase is the phase in which the system is broken down into smaller, less complex parts. These parts, when put together, need to be a solution to the problem under development.

3.4.5 Implementation

The challenge is to create a working web-based application to enable the educational system to cater for individuals‘ learning styles. When the design of the system is mostly completed, implementation begins. This means the design is translated into code. Implementation is the process of building the web according to its design [205]. This refers to the period of time in the software life cycle during which a software product is created from documentation and debugged. Implementation is included, as a phase, in the software development cycle in order to build and deliver a software system that has been engineered and designed in previous phases of the cycle.

3.4.6 Review and Maintenance

It is not likely to produce the perfect usable design; a designer can create a highly- usable interface only by stepping into a process that involves getting information from the system users. The system will therefore be tested to ensure that that it is working well, to get rid of any errors, and to enhance it. In addition to testing there will be a usability evaluation and interviews with experts. The usability evaluation demonstrates the quality of a system that makes it easy to use and learn, and that is subjectively fulfilling.

The first few stages in the cycle involve the practical application of the theory in terms of how the system needs to be designed and built. Most of the researcher‘s time was devoted to this part of the study. The following sections in this chapter will cover the survey design and interview techniques used to evaluate the system. The next chapter will present a more detailed description of the final review stage, the part that involves the implementation of the system in the way of evaluation studies; there will also be some details of the code used to develop the system and how the system works.