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Chapter 11Analysis and Design

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Learning objectivesSummarize approaches for analysing

requirements for e-business systemsIdentify key elements of approaches to

improve the interface design and security design of e-commerce systems

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Issues for managersWhat are the critical success factors for

analysis and design of e-business systems?What is the balance between requirements for

usable and secure systems and the costs of designing them in this manner?

What are the best approaches for incorporating new IS solutions with legacy systems into the architectural design of the e-business?

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Workflow managementWorkflow is

‘the automation of a business process, in whole or part during which documents, information or tasks are passed from one participant to another for action, according to a set of procedural rules.’

Examples:Booking a holidayHandling a customer complaintReceiving a customer order

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Process modellingOften use a hierarchical method of

establishingthe processes and their constituent sub-

processesthe dependencies between processesthe inputs (resources) needed by the processes

and the outputs Complete activity 11.2 using Figure 11.2 and

Table 11.2 for how to improve processes

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An example task decomposition for an estate agency

Figure 11.1  An example task decomposition for an estate agency

Source: Chaffey (1998)

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Symbols used for flow process charts

Figure 11.2  Symbols used for flow process charts

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Flow process chart showing the main operations performed by users when working using workflow software

Figure 11.3  Flow process chart showing the main operations performed by users when working using workflow software

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Data modelling Uses well established techniques used for

relational database design Stages:

1. Identify entities2. Identify attributes of entities3. Identify relationships

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Generic B2C ER diagram

Figure 11.5  Generic B2C ER diagram

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Client / server architecture – separation of functionsData storage. Predominantly on server. Client storage is

ideally limited to cookies for identification of users and session tracking. Cookie identifiers for each system user are then related to the data for the user which is stored on a database server.

Query processing. Predominantly on the server, although some validation can be performed on the client.

Display. This is largely a client function.Application logic. Traditionally, in early PC applications

this has been a client function, but for e-business systems the design aim is to maximize the application logic processing including the business rules on the server.

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Three-tier client server in an e-business environment

Figure 11.6  Three-tier client server in an e-business environment

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E-business architecture for the B2C company

Figure 11.7  E-business architecture for The B2C Company

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User centred design‘Unless a web site meets the needs of the intended users it will not meet the needs of the organization providing the web site.

Web site development should be user-centred, evaluating the evolving design against user requirements.’

(Bevan, 1999a)

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Analysis considerations (Bevan)Who are the important users?What is their purpose for accessing the site?How frequently will they visit the site?What experience and expertise do they have?What nationality are they? Can they read English?What type of information are they looking for?How will they want to use the information: read it on

the screen, print it or download it?What type of browsers will they use? How fast will

their communication links be?How large a screen/window will they use, with how

many colours?

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4 stages of Rosenfeld and Morville (1998) Identify different audiences. Rank importance of each to business. List the three most important information

needs of audience. Ask representatives of each audience type

to develop their own wishlists.

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Use-case analysisThe use-case method of process analysis and

modelling was developed in the early 1990s as part of the development of object-oriented techniques. It is part of a methodology known as Unified Modelling Language (UML) that attempts to unify the approaches that preceded it such as the Booch, OMT and Objectory notations.

Use-case modelling A user-centred approach to modelling system requirements.

Unified Modelling Language (UML) A language used to specify, visualize and document the artefacts of an object-oriented system.

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Schneider and Winters (1998) stages in Use Case Identify actors.

Actors are typically application users such as customers and employers also other systems.

Identify use-cases. The sequence of transactions between an actor and a system that support the activities of the actor.

• Relate actors to use-cases. See Figure 11.8.

• Develop use-case scenarios. See Figure 11.9 for a detailed scenario.

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Relationship between actors and use-cases for the B2C Company, sell-side e-commerce site

Figure 11.8  Relationship between actors and use-cases for The B2C Company, sell-side e-commerce site

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Primary use case scenario for an entire e-commerce purchase cycle

Figure 11.9  Primary use-case scenario for an entire e-commerce purchase cycle

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Primary scenario for the Register use-cases for the B2C Company

Figure 11.10  Primary scenario for the Register use-cases for The B2C Company

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Site design issues Style and personality + design

Support the brand Site organisation

Fits audience’s information needs Site navigation

Clear, simple, consistent Page design

Clear, simple, consistent Content

Engaging and relevant

Covered by the eight principles that follow

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Site design principle 1 Standards

‘Users spend most of their time on other sites. This means that users prefer your site to work the same way as all the other sites they already know…

Think Yahoo and Amazon. Think "shopping cart" and the silly little icon. Think blue text links’.

Jakob Nielsen - www.useit.com

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Principle 2 Support marketing objectives Support customer lifecycle

Acquisition – of new or existing customers Retention – gain repeat visitors Extension - cross- and up-selling

Support communications objectives 3 key tactics

1. Communicate the online value proposition2. Establish credibility3. Convert customer to action

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Principle 3 Customer orientation

Content + services support a range of audiences and…

Different segments 4 familiarities

– With Internet – With company – With products – With web site

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Principle 4 Lowest Common Denominator Access speed

Screen resolution and colour depth

Web browser type

Browser configuration Text size

Plug-ins

www.usability.serco.com

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Principle 5 Aesthetics fit the brand

Site personality How would you describe the site if it were a person?

E.g. Formal, Fun, Engaging, Entertaining, Professional Site style

Information vs graphics intensive Cluttered vs clean

Are personality and style consistent with brand and customer orientation?

Aesthetics = Graphics + Colour + Style + Layout + Typography

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Principle 6 Get the structure right

(c)

Back

(a) (b)

(d)

DTI Cisco

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Principle 7 Make navigation easyAccording to Nielsen, need to establish:1. Where am I? 2. Where have I been? 3. Where do I want to go?

Context. Consistency. Simplicity.

Use accepted standards for navigation:

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‘Go with the flow’Visitor in controlAn enjoyable

experience‘Think like a client’

Navigation continuedEnter by:

user needproduct / serviceaudience typesearch

To:alternate home

pages

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Principle 8 Support user psychologyHofacker’s 5 stages of information processing

1. Exposure – can it be seen? 2. Attention – does it grab?3. Comprehension and perception -

is message understood?4. Yielding and acceptance :

Is it credible and believable?5. Retention – is the message and experience

remembered?

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Parties involved in secure transactionsPurchasers. These are the consumers buying

the goods.Merchants. These are the retailers.Certification Authority (CA). This is a body

that issues digital certificates that confirm the identity of purchasers and merchants.

Banks. These are traditional banks.Electronic token issuer. A virtual bank that

issues digital currency.

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Main security risks(a) Transaction or credit card details stolen in

transit.(b) Customer’s credit card details stolen from

merchant’s server.(c) Merchant or customer is not who they

claim to be.

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Security requirements for e-commerce Authentication – are parties to the transaction who they

claim to be? Privacy and confidentiality – is transaction data protected?

The consumer may want to make an anonymous purchase. Are all non-essential traces of a transaction removed from the public network and all intermediary records eliminated?

Integrity – checks that the message sent is complete i.e. that it isn’t corrupted.

Non-repudiability – ensures sender cannot deny sending message.

Availability – how can threats to the continuity and performance of the system be eliminated?

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Public-key or asymmetric encryption

Figure 11.18  Public-key or asymmetric encryption

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Security ProtocolsSecure Socket Layer (SSL): Protocol that

utilizes standard certificates for authentication and data encryption to ensure privacy or confidentiality

Secure Electronic Transaction (SET): A protocol designed to provide secure online credit card transactions for both consumers and merchants; developed jointly by Netscape, Visa, MasterCard, and others

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SET

Figure 11.19  An example of the Secure Electronic Transaction (SET) standard