Aim -

To research aspects of web-based system development and management, and critique and deconstruct a web-based system; to research aspects of architecture, administration and management for a web-based system; presenting that information in the form of a professional standard report, and using electronic communication methods on the course website. This is an individual assignment.

Choice of web-based system -

You may not critique a system that you have been involved in the production of or one that has been used as an example in class. You must critique a different system from the rest of the class. The system you choose must contain certain server-side scripting. You should post a reservation message to announce your intention to critique that system by using the discussion forum on the course website (on Moodle). The reservation post should contain a working link to the web resource. Before you decide to reserve a web-based system, please make sure that you will be provided with the required information for this assignment.

Part A: Technical and Architecture

The technical analysis part should include the basic information about the website and compile the results from all the standard tests discussed in class. It should consider the following:

• The purpose of the web-based system
• The target audience/typical users of the web-based system
• Load time/page size
• HTML validation and compatibility
• Accessibility
• Broken links
• Web server software information
• Name holder information
• Popularity
• The system history

The website architecture part should identify and analyse the following:

• Organisation/structure of the web based system
• The resource (source code, multimedia elements and etc.) organisation on the web server
• The visual design (including design theme)
• Details of repeated page elements
• Possible database tables and their fields used and the types of dynamic data
• Technologies used to create the web-based system
• The likely roles needed to create and maintain this system
• The likely software used to create and maintain this system

Notes

• Your report should be around 25 standard pages plus unlimited appendices.
• You will have to be a detective and look for clues in the source code to be able to deconstruct the system (refer to the separate "Web Detectives" handout).
• You are allowed to contact the administrators of the site and ask them questions but you should not expect replies on sensitive issues.
• You must give reasons for your opinions (e.g. "the source code contains an HTML comment mentioning Vignette V/5 which leads me to suspect that they use Vignette Story Server version 5 to manage the content of the site").
• If you study a site that contains no database-driven content you should instead give details of what content should be database-driven, and suggest the composition of those database tables.

The analysis should have a high standard of document presentation, and attempt to communicate all relevant information to the reader. It should contain information copied from test results along with explanatory and interpretive material. The main body of the document should contain summary results with full results given in an appendix. See the separate good practice document for further details (This can be found from the course web site: /Assignments/Assignment 1 Examples and Ideas). It should be submitted via the turnitin.com website.

Part B: Industry Policy Report

You are required to communicate with the administration team of the web-based system you used in Part A. Students are responsible for arranging their own communication, although suggestions and help may be gained from your lecturers.

You are asked to investigate, analyse and report on the following administration issues:

• brief the management policies in your introduction (e.g. documented or implied, how your information were gathered)
• system maintenance issues (e.g. content monitoring, roles and responsibilities, link checking)
• server-side administrative issues (e.g. server setup and topology, performance monitoring)
• client-side considerations (e.g. browser capabilities, components and plug ins, promotion and advertising)
• management issues relating to security, encryption, verification, site auditing and certification
• privacy and copyright issues.

Your report should be around 20 standard pages plus unlimited appendices. You are required to use the same web-based system as you used in Part A. If in a special circumstance, you are not able to continue with the system, you need to discuss it with the lecturer, which may result in 5 marks penalty.

Part C: Critique

You are asked to critique the website you used in Part A and Part B.

In your critique you are expected to consider:

You should include those technical aspects reported in Part A in the above discussion.

Does the website have a proper architecture? You should include those architecture aspects reported in Part A in this discussion.

Does the website have a proper management policy? You should include those management policy aspects reported in Part B in this discussion.

In the summary and conclusion section, you should summary the whole report and also address the following questions:

• From the perspective of the target audience/users, do you think the system meets its purpose and why? (e.g. is the navigation or content or services offered too difficult to use for the users, does the design have usability failings).
• Would you return to the site? What techniques were used to encourage return visits?

You should give reasons for your opinions and back them up with specific examples. You should summarise the facts you are critiquing and then apply the principles given in the lectures or literature with proper referencing.

You are encouraged to relate to the results contained in your Part A and Part B. Your report should be around 15 standard pages plus unlimited appendices.