Assignment Brief (RQF)
Student Name/ID Number
Unit Number and
Title 4: Database Design & Development
Academic Year 2020
Unit Tutor
Assignment Title All About Furniture (AAF)
Issue Date 19th September 2020
Submission Date 16th October 2020
IV Name & Date
Learner Declaration
I certify that the work submitted for this assignment is my own and research sources are fully acknowledged.
…………………..
Student Signature: Date:………………………..
Submission Format
The submission is in the form of an individual written report. This should be written in a concise, formal business style using single spacing and font size 12. You are required to make use of headings, paragraphs and subsections as appropriate, and all work must be supported with research and referenced using the Harvard referencing system. Please also provide a bibliography using the Harvard referencing system. The recommended word limit is 2,000 - 2,500 words, although you will not be penalised for exceeding the total word limit.
The submission is in the form of a fully functional relational database system and an individual written report.
The submission is in the form of a technical documentation and a written report.
Unit Learning Outcomes
LO1 Use an appropriate design tool to design a relational database system for a substantial problem.
LO2 Develop a fully functional relational database system, based on an existing system design.
LO3 Test the system against user and system requirements.
LO4 Produce technical and user documentation.
Assignment Brief and Guidance
Assignment brief
Case study
All About Furniture (AAF) is a chain of stores selling an extensive range of household goods from stores located throughout the UK. The company recognises the growing importance of e-commerce in the consumer market and in a bid to remain ahead of its competitors, AAF has decided to expand into this area and offer customers the opportunity to purchase items from a Web site. It should be possible for a customer to log onto the AAF Web site, select and purchase their required items and pay for them. The items would then be delivered to the customer at home. AAF aims to make shopping from its Web site easy for its customer by stocking the goods they require, offering them a wide range of alternatives and keeping then informed about new products coming onto the market.
The company requires a database system to meet these aims. The database needs to store information about products in stock and products that will shortly be coming onto the market, to track the stock of products available and to record orders made by the company’s customers.
When a customer enters the AAF website, they are presented with a home page that has a number of options that the customer can select. A customer can either browse the site by exploring the various product categories, e.g. kitchenware, cleaning products and storage solutions, or by examining the site’s favourites and top selling products, or by selecting the
product directly using the product reference code, or by use of a keyword search. Alternatively a customer can choose to directly place an order.
When browsing the site a customer is taken through a series of pages to select products using certain criteria. For example, when a customer selects one of the categories in the top left corner of the home page they are presented with a set of sub categories for that category. When a customer clicks on one of the sub-categories they are shown individual products that fall under the chosen category. The first page displays just the picture and name of a product. If the customer clicks on a specific product’s picture they can view full details of that product – its name, description, product reference number and price. It is at this point that the customer has the option to place the product in his shopping basket by entering the quantity required and then clicking on the ‘Add to Shopping Basket’ button.
If the customer does not want to browse they can go direct to the order form where they enter the product reference number and quantity required and then click on the ‘Add to Shopping Basket’ button. A shopping basket contains items that a customer is thinking about purchasing. Once an item has been added to the basket, it can be changed in terms of the quantity required or it can be removed from the basket.
The first time in a session that a customer decides to add an item to their shopping basket, or wants to view the basket for the first time, they need to enter their username and password to log on. If the customer is visiting the site for the first time, they will need to sign up for an account before they can use the shopping basket facility. This is achieved by completion of a registration form.
When a customer actually wants to purchase the items in their shopping basket they click on the ‘purchase’ button that takes them to the Basket Summary page and it is here that the order is created. The customer also provides the address for the despatch of the goods. The default address is the customer’s home address but the customer can add additional delivery addresses as required.
The final step in the purchase process is for the customer to provide payment details. For security purposes details of a customer’s credit card(s) are not stored. They must be entered each time a customer makes a purchase. To manage the delivery of orders to clients, customers are supplied a distribution centre that maintains a stock of products listed on the web site
Task 1
Before you start the development process, your manager has asked you to produce a report for the CEO, containing:
1.1 The design of the relational database system using appropriate design tools and techniques. It should contain at least four interrelated tables.
1.2 You will produce a comprehensive design for a fully functional system which will include interface and output designs, data validations and cover data normalisation. Clear statements of user and system requirements.
Task 2
2.1 Once the designs have been accepted by your manager you have been asked to develop the database system using evidence of user interface, output and data validations and querying across multiple tables.
2.2 You want to include more than just the basics so you will implement a fully functional database system which will include system security and database maintenance features.
2.3 You have decided to implement a query language into the relational database system. Assessing whether meaningful data has been extracted through the use of query tools to produce appropriate management information.
2.3.1 Display Customer Information
2.3.2 Finding products from product reference code
2.3.3 Display Items in the Shopping cart
2.3.4 Identify the delivery centre of the order
Task 3
3.1 Evaluating the effectiveness of the database solution in relation for AAF environment and system requirements, and suggest improvements
3.2 Once the system has been developed, you will test the system against user and system Requirements, including an explanation of the choice of test data used.
3.3 Produce technical and user documentation which will be given to the AAF. Provide some graphical representations for ease of reference in the technical guide and produce a technical and user documentation for a fully functional system, including diagrams showing movement of data through the system, and flowcharts describing how the system works.
Learning Outcomes and Assessment Criteria
Pass Merit Distinction
LO1 Use an appropriate design tool to design a relational database system for a substantial problem
P1 Design a relational database system using appropriate design tools and techniques, containing at least four interrelated tables, with clear statements of user and system requirements. M1 Produce a comprehensive design for a fully functional system which includes interface and output designs, data validations and data normalisation. D1 Assess the effectiveness of the
design in relation to user
and system requirements.
LO2 Develop a fully functional relational database system, based on an existing system design LO2 & 3
D2 Evaluate the
P2 Develop the database system with evidence of user interface, output and data validations, and querying across multiple tables.
P3 Implement a query language into the relational database system. M2 Implement a fully functional database system which includes system security and database maintenance.
M3 Assess whether meaningful data has been extracted through the use of query tools to produce appropriate management information. effectiveness of the database solution in relation to user and system requirements, and suggest improvements.
LO3 Test the systems against user and system requirements
P4 Test the system against user and system requirements. M4 Assess the effectiveness of the testing, including an explanation of the choice of test data used.
LO4 Produce technical and user documentation
P5 Produce technical and user documentation. M5 Produce technical and user documentation for a fully functional system, including diagrams showing movement of data through the system, and flowcharts describing how the system works. D3 Assess any future improvements that may be required to ensure the continued effectiveness of the database system.