CS 411 LAB I OUTLINE
1.
Introduction
a. Societal Problem/Problem Statement
i. The importance of email marketing is evident with the abundance of
email accounts worldwide which are projected to continue to increase
ii. Consumers check their email often which further proves why email
marketing is substantial
iii. The Return on Investment (ROI) that email marketing campaigns
provide are 4000 percent
iv. Over one billion was spent on email marketing in 2012 and companies
are growing their email marketing budgets
v. Process of creating email content across various email clients is time
consuming
vi. Process of creating email content across various email clients is
complicated
b. Needed Solution Characteristics/Solution Statement
i. Provides a stand-alone and integrative email marketing content
management system
ii. Development is streamlined
iii. End-to-end testing can be performed independently
c. EmVi – Email Viewer (Email Content Management System) provides a
global solution for
i. Email marketing content management
ii. Testing
iii. Campaign distribution
2.
Product Description
a. EmVi Product Description
i. Stand-alone system or can be integrated with an application
programming interface (API)
ii. Campaign content can be uploaded quickly and images can be viewed in
various web browsers/email clients
b. Solution Summary
i. EmVi allows for email campaign marketing tasks to take place in house
ii. Lessen time delays
iii. Decrease amount of campaign errors
iv. Reduce costs associated with development
c. Goals/Objectives
i. Streamline email testing to enable rapid iterations on designs
ii. Automate version control
iii. Automate approval process
iv. Automate uploading of content
v. Automate distribution of test emails
vi. Automate generation of preview images
2.1
Key Product Features/Capabilities
a. Content Management
i. Ability to store and edit plain text html
ii. Ability to search within campaign
b. Upload to CDN
i. Upload images to Content Distribution Network (CDN)
ii. Replace image URL in HTML
c. Approval System
i. Provides a customizable approval system to allow for multiple stages of
approval
d. Email Preview
i. Provide images of rendered email campaigns in different web
browser/email clients
e. Streamlining
i. The uploading and testing process is performed in EmVi so that
designers can perform thorough testing
2.2 Major Components (Hardware/Software)
a. Real World Product MFCD
b. Hardware
i. Servers
ii. Development Machines
c. Third Party Software
i. CDN and Test Renderer via API
ii. Database Engine
iii. Play Framework
d. Web Server Software
i. Access Control System
ii. Public API
iii. Webpage Logic
iv. Database Interface
v. Email SMTP Interface
3. Identification of Case Study
a. Keith Walsh, Development Lead, Email Marketing Systems
b. EmVi is being developed for users of Email Content Management Systems
c. Faculty Mentor & Domain Experts
i. Steven Zeil, Associate Professor, Old Dominion University (ODU)
ii. Sara Johnson, President, A Touch of Tech
iii. Dana Rambo, Program Manager, Microsoft
iv. Ryan Ward, Network Administrator, SimIS
3.
Product Prototype Description
a. The EmVi tool prototype is basically a Email Content Management System
that will
i. Interface with the application programming interfaces (APIs) of other
reputable companies
ii. EmVi streamlines the testing and development process
iii. EmVi allows for the reduction of errors, reduction of costs, and
decreases time delays
iv. EmVi will render testing in this stand alone and integrative tool
b. Prototype Functional Goals/Objectives
i. Display a GUI with various user role interfaces such as admin,
contributor, approver,
ii. Display functionality of login page
iii. Capability of user to receive a registration email
iv. Provide the capability of a database that allows for the automation of
access control and version control
v. Automate distribution of test emails
vi. Viewing of rendered email marketing campaigns in EmVi
vii. EmVi is customizable for user
4.1
Prototype Architecture (Hardware/Software)
a. Prototype MFCD
b. Hardware
i. Servers
ii. Development Machines
c. Third Party Software
i. CDN and Test Renderer via API
ii. Database Engine
iii. Play Framework
d. Web Server Software
i. Access Control System
ii. Public API
iii. Webpage Logic
iv. Database Interface
v. Email SMTP Interface
4.2
Prototype Features/Capabilities
a. Major Features
i. Authentication
ii. Storage
iii. Workflow
iv. Email Send-To Test List
b. User Role Interfaces
i. Contributor (Creator)
ii. Approver
iii. Admin
c. Registration
i. Generate registration email
d. User Login
ii. Display user login page
e. Email Previewing
i. Viewing of rendered campaigns
ii. Testing of email campaigns
f. Testing
i. Rendering email campaigns across different email clients to find errors
and inconsistencies
ii. Ensure EmVi tool interfaces with other APIs properly
iii. Collect analytics
iv. Ensure the various user interfaces as well as any other graphical user
interfaces (GUIs) are functioning correctly
g. Risk Mitigation
i. Create algorithms (multiple levels of testing) that will improve
processing time of data
ii. Provide a manual interface for version control
iii. Provide a simple test email and allow users to manually check
campaigns
iv. EmVi will be open source, however advise users of costs upfront
associated with interfacing with other companies
v. Ensure access control is implemented well
4.3
Prototype Developmental Challenges
h. Risks
i. Program Latency/Scaling
ii. Problematic Version Control
iii. Problems Rendering Test Emails
iv. Security Risks
v. System Maintenance
vi. Associated Costs
vii. Campaign Security
a. Completing development of integral and creative aspects of the tool
i. Integration between EmVi API and Exact Target(deployment) and
Drupal’s (content management system) APIs
ii. Interfacing with CDN
iii. Rendering of test emails
iv. Interfacing with editing tools for image uploading
Glossary
References