COMP2912 – Coursework 1 1
Module: Software Engineering Principles
Module code: COMP2912
Year: 2021-2022
Assignment: Software Design Brief – written report
Assignment weighting: 20%
Due: 16th November 2021 – VLE submission
Brief
The assignment is to develop and document a software design brief suitable to be given to
a software development team so that they can establish technical feasibility.
Scenario
GoParkWalk – a new student experience app for social interaction during a pandemic
A software company is interested in developing a new product that could help students
exercise and socialise safely during the COVID-19 pandemic. They have called this
GoParkWalk. The idea is that students will be encouraged to go for a walk every day in a
nearby park for exercise and fresh air. The app will use GPS location tracking to locate
the student in the park and locate other students who are using the same app and also
walking in the park. If these students are on the same course it will encourage them
both to stop and talk to each other. This will enable students to find and meet other
students on their course that they would otherwise not recognise.
The company spoke to some students who said that they found it difficult to meet
people on their course and make new friends when most of their studying is online. They
hope that GoParkWalk will help students get more exercise, meet more fellow students,
overcome social awkwardness in making new friends and create a richer and more
sociable student experience.
To ensure meetings are safe the students should be outdoors, fully vaccinated and
should be at least two meters from each other. The company believes it can a) link to
the national COVID vaccination record systems (such as as NHS COVID Pass in the UK)
to get proof of vaccination, b) use face recognition software to confirm that masks are
being work and c) calculate an approximate distance between students from GPS
locations which they would then refine by the relative strength of Bluetooth signals of
the two smartphones. Students would receive a warning alert to stay two meters apart
if the app thinks they are too close.
The company think that there is a profitable market for this novel application by giving
the app away free-of-charge to students but selling the data on student movements,
activity and social meetings together with a Web-based social activity dashboard to the
universities where it is used. This dashboard will help the universities identify less
sociable students and encourage more sociable behaviour between students. The
company have various ideas like awarding students more coursework points based on how
many different classmates they social interact with.
The company want to commission a requirements investigation, design brief and a proof
COMP2912 – Coursework 1 2
of architecture prototype and have set aside ￡10,000 for this phase of the app’s
development with an expected total budget of ￡100,000 for development and ￡100,000
for sales and marketing. Their idea is that universities would pay maybe ￡1 per month
per student for a data feed that would give them a dashboard of information about the
student’s daily activities. The company have said that they want designs that make use
of student entered data, integration with existing systems (Vaccination records,
University systems, social media feeds) and the latest advances in smart phone
technologies (location, alerts, motion sensor, camera, embedded AI etc.).
The company recognise that their initial ideas are just a starting point, that they don’t
really know what the best business model is, or what the requirements are or even
whether their ideas are feasible. The ethics and privacy details are a particular
concern.
Your job is to figure out a design that is creative, ambitious and feasible. State who you
think the customers and users could be. Feel free to challenge and rethink their initial
ideas. They would like to see software design briefs that are creative, ambitious and
that make use of both integration with existing systems and the latest advances in
computer science. Your design must embody sound software engineering principles and
address any legal, ethical and sociological issues.
Your Task
Investigate the range of potential requirements that you might select for your chosen
solution. You have a wide range of choices available and you only need to choose some of
those for your solution. Your approach is up to you but it would be sensible to do three
iterations of investigation and design – the first should be a broad investigation to help
you choose a candidate design, the second should investigate specific requirements to help
you“flesh out”your design and the third should be“polishing”to format your design brief in
the required format. Your final design brief should be in line with the stated aims for your
solution, it should address a clearly articulated need, and should be technically and
practically feasible.
You are expected to draw on and apply the techniques and understanding you have acquired
on this module. You may work with other students to discuss the range of issues and options
but you must submit an individual piece of work. Each report is checked by Turnitin for
plagiarism against current students, previous students and other universities as well as
against online sources.
Report Structure
The following report structure is recommended but you are welcome to improve on it:
Introduction
Summarise your project’s aim and explain what you have chosen to focus on and why.
Describe the investigation of requirements that you have conducted (interviews, online
research, observation etc) and the key points that have informed your choice of design. Who
are the stakeholders and what interest do they have in the solution?
Summary of the proposed solution
Describe your proposed solution in non-technical terms. State who will use your solution,
why and when. Describe what effort is required by the user to use your proposed solution
and what value the user will get in return. Describe any other users and uses of the solution
including any systems that you expect your solution to interface with.
COMP2912 – Coursework 1 3
Requirements
Draw a use case diagram to show the system, its users and uses. This should include any
system actors. Make sure that all human users have a clear value proposal. Write a short
narrative that summarises the use case diagram. List any key non-functional requirements.
Using the Proposed Solution
Write a user story to illustrate how you imagine your proposed system might be used. You
should include prototypes of proposed screens or an activity diagram or interaction diagram
to supplement your story.
Implementing the Proposed Solution
Draw an implementation diagram (deployment and component combined) to show the
hardware and network infrastructure for your proposed solution together with the software
components that will be required. Describe what will be required in terms of both new and
existing hardware, networking, software and interfaces to implement the system. What
technology platforms will be used? How will the non-functional requirements be addressed?
Conclusion
Identify the legal, ethical and sociological issues and explain how your solution will address
them. Make a conclusion explaining why your proposal follows sound software engineering
principles and is achievable within the budget and timescale. What are the limitations of your
proposed solution and what outstanding issues have not been addressed?
Assessment Criteria
Your assignment should demonstrate that you can:
Apply a range of tools and approaches from the module to design a system
Structure a report based on your design
Demonstrate an ability to work as a software engineer.
Your report should:
Be logically structured
Use good English
Use neat diagrams where appropriate
Use correct UML syntax in diagrams
Include accurate and consistent referencing where appropriate
Use correct spelling and punctuation.
Word Count: There is no word limit but there is a strict page limit of 6 sides of A4.
Font size for the report should not be smaller than Arial 10 but may be smaller in tables or
diagrams provided these are still clear and legible. Hand drawn diagrams and prototypes are
perfectly acceptable. Note that the marker is not required to mark any more than 6 sides of
A4 so will not read or mark anything beyond the page limit.
The marking scheme is included on the next page for your reference.
COMP2912 – Coursework 1 4
Marking Scheme
Excellent
Good
Pass
Fail
3 2 1 0
Introduction
Summarise your project’s aim and explain what you have chosen to focus on and why.
Describe the investigation of requirements that you have conducted (interviews, online research, observation
etc) and the key points that have informed your choice of design.
Who are the stakeholders and what interest do they have in the solution?
Summary of the proposed solution
Describe your proposed solution in non-technical terms.
State who will use your solution, why and when.
Describe what effort is required by the user to use your proposed solution and what value the user will get in
return.
Describe any other users and uses of the solution including any systems that you expect your solution to
interface with.
Requirements
Draw a use case diagram to show the system, its users and uses. This should include any system actors.
Make sure that all human users have a clear value proposal.
Write short narrative that summarises the use case diagram.
List any key non-functional requirements.
Using the Proposed Solution
Write a user story to illustrate how you imagine your proposed system might be used.
You should include
some prototypes of proposed screens
or an activity diagram
or interaction diagram to supplement your story.
Implementing the Proposed Solution
Draw an implementation diagram (deployment and component combined) to show the hardware and network
infrastructure for your proposed solution together with the software components that will be required.
Describe what will be required in terms of both new and existing hardware, networking, software and
interfaces to implement the system.
What technology platforms will be used?
How will the non-functional requirements be addressed?
Conclusion
Identify the legal, ethical and sociological issues and explain how your solution will address them.
Make a conclusion explaining why your proposal follows sound software engineering principles
and is achievable within the budget and timescale.
What are the limitations of your proposed solution and what outstanding issues have not been addressed?
Report Writing and Presentation
Your report should be logically structured, use good English, use neat diagrams where appropriate, include accurate
and consistent referencing where appropriate, use correct spelling and punctuation.
Total marks available: 20.