Boundaries A project can grow bigger and bigger. Set a limit on how much you hope to achieve in the time available. Solution alternatives Consider if the objectives be met by some other solution. Is a database the best way to fulfil the purpose? Entities Identify the entities about which information will be collected (for example, weather, animals, plants, activities, calendar months, seasonal markers, trees, fish). For each of these entities, list the types of information needed. Note: It is important here to develop careful ways of classifying entities. Data types and data acquisition Consider what data types are expected. The data provided contains audio, video, images and text. The interactive calendar has additional information in audio buttons beside each season’s name. How will you collect and classify all this data? Relationships Provide background descriptions and images for various animals and plants. Consider whether these will be linked from another table. Use a diagram to describe how each entity above relates to other entities (for example, animal may belong to one or more seasons’, season ‘an ‘a contains one or more calendar months’. Functional requirements Work out the functional requirements (for example, speed of processing, ease of ability to add data, the quality of reports, user- friendliness). Consider the user interface: how it should look and operate, navigation, searching, adding new records, updating existing records. Non-functional requirements For example, consider how the requirements of reliability, user-friendliness, portability and robustness could affect the solution. Data accuracy Consider the accuracy of this data. Is it kept up to date? Who will be responsible? Do they have a stake in the accuracy of the data? What are the risks associated with incomplete or inaccurate data? Reports Describe any reports that are required. This would include listing the specific information to be contained in each report, as well as details of any calculations, sorting, grouping or filters to be applied to the data. Users of reports are the best people to decide such things.
Boundaries A project can grow bigger and bigger. Set a limit on how much you hope to achieve in the time available. Solution alternatives Consider if the objectives be met by some other solution. Is a database the best way to fulfil the purpose? Entities Identify the entities about which information will be collected (for example, weather, animals, plants, activities, calendar months, seasonal markers, trees, fish). For each of these entities, list the types of information needed. Note: It is important here to develop careful ways of classifying entities. Data types and data acquisition Consider what data types are expected. The data provided contains audio, video, images and text. The interactive calendar has additional information in audio buttons beside each season’s name. How will you collect and classify all this data? Relationships Provide background descriptions and images for various animals and plants. Consider whether these will be linked from another table. Use a diagram to describe how each entity above relates to other entities (for example, ‘an animal may belong to one or more seasons’, ‘a season contains one or more calendar months’. Functional requirements Work out the functional requirements (for example, speed of processing, ease of ability to add data, the quality of reports, user- friendliness). Consider the user interface: how it should look and operate, navigation, searching, adding new records, updating existing records. Non-functional requirements For example, consider how the requirements of reliability, user-friendliness, portability and robustness could affect the solution. Data accuracy Consider the accuracy of this data. Is it kept up to date? Who will be responsible? Do they have a stake in the accuracy of the data? What are the risks associated with incomplete or inaccurate data? Reports Describe any reports that are required. This would include listing the specific information to be contained in each report, as well as details of any calculations, sorting, grouping or filters to be applied to the data. Users of reports are the best people to decide such things.