Development Plan Table of Contents
1. Abstract (John Knox) .................................................................................................................... 1
2. Problem Description (Marrissa Webster) ............................................................................ 2
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4
2.5
Problem Definition (Marissa Webster) .......................................................................................... 2
Problem Characteristics (Marrissa Webster) .............................................................................. 2
Customer Definition (Marrissa Webster) ...................................................................................... 4
Process Flow (Marrissa Webster) ..................................................................................................... 4
Proposed Solution (Marrissa Webster) .......................................................................................... 5
3. Project Scope (John Knox) .......................................................................................................... 5
3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4
3.5
MFCD (John Knox) .................................................................................................................................. 5
Process Flow (John Knox) .................................................................................................................... 6
Database ERD and Database Schematic (John Knox)................................................................. 7
Dataflow Diagram (John Knox) .......................................................................................................... 9
Hardware and Software (John Knox) .............................................................................................. 9
4. References ...................................................................................................................................... 10
Appendix
A: Management Plan .................................................................................................................................... A1
B: Staffing Plan ............................................................................................................................................... B1
C: Resource Plan .............................................................................................................................................C1
D: Funding Plan ............................................................................................................................................. D1
E: Marketing Plan ...........................................................................................................................................E1
F: Risk Management Plan ............................................................................................................................F1
G: Evaluation Plan ......................................................................................................................................... G1
H: Work Breakdown Structure(Phase 0) ............................................................................................. H1
I: Work Breakdown Structure(Phase 1) ...............................................................................................I1
J: Work Breakdown Structure(Phase 2) ...............................................................................................J1
K: Work Breakdown Structure(Phase 3) ............................................................................................. K1
Development Plan
1.
Geographical Auto-Delivery System
Abstract
Traveling is one of the most cumbersome activities performed today. The main problem of
traveling is that the lack of knowledge increases frustration and inefficiency while traveling.
This includes being in unfamiliar areas, going the wrong direction, not having any idea where
anything is, family trips getting stressful and confusing, as well as the business traveler who is
constantly on the go yet still can’t find anything that they are looking for when it comes to food,
hotels, and points of interest. Phone applications can be used to help alleviate this problem by
making the person aware of the points of interest, food, and hotels that are around them but this
leads to distracted driving. Distracted driving causes four out of every five accidents in a year
and has lead to over half a million fatalities in the past year alone.
The Geographical Auto-Delivery System (GAS) will help to alleviate the frustration of a traveler
and help make any trip better overall. GAS is an application that automatically notifies the user
about relevant traffic and points of interest indicated in his or her user profile while he or she is
traveling. The application allows for a traveling user to download the application to their smart
phone and create a user profile. This user profile can be updated on the smart phone or on a
website through the customer’s login username and password. Within the user profile the
customer will be able to choose their favorite restaurants, whether sit down family style or fast
food, preferred hotel type whether five star Hilton or just a quick overnight motel 6, and the
points of interest that they really like such as camping, monuments, amusement parks, or the
like. After the user profile is configured the application will push real time, automatic,
autonomous updates about points of interest, traffic information, road conditions, and weather
conditions based on the Global Position System or GPS that comes with all smart phones. This
push mechanism will allow for our solution to counter the distracted driving issue by utilizing
voice activated controls of the application making it hands free and the driver better able to
concentrate on the road. These updates will be sent out via a topology based design in which the
Google Maps API will be used as an overlay to inform the traveler about traffic that may be
coming up soon within a certain range or unfavorable weather/road conditions and redirects them
accordingly. Also, as part of this solution businesses will be given a web site to update their
pertinent information to be input into our database that will be used for the Geographical AutoDelivery System(GAS).
There are two types of customers that GAS appeals to. The first is the business customer who
pays a monthly fee to have their fast food chain, sit down restaurant, hotel chain, or point of
interest added into our database and allows for travelers to find their locations easier while
getting information about them also. The other type of customer is the traveling customer
whether they are an individual, a family, or a business man. GAS allows for the business man
who absolutely has to be on time to avoid traffic, find their favorite place to eat even if they
know nothing about the area, and find lower priced fuel to help lower the cost of their trip
overall. For a family, it helps them to find many relevant locations that may be helpful to them
on their trip or vacation including gas stations with restrooms, food, and cheap fuel, sit down
restaurants with good food, and points of interest so they can enjoy their trip the best way
possible. Both of these customers can use the Geographical Auto-Delivery System to help better
their respective trips and the benefits to both are substantial including less money spent on
traveling and more money for the businesses, little to no traffic concerns causing less anxiety and
stress, as well as the most pertinent points of interest and hotels to stay in making the trip overall
the best one ever.
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Development Plan
2.
Geographical Auto-Delivery System
Problem Description
2.1 Problem Definition
When a family decides they want to drive to a vacation destination, there are many different
factors that need to be considered; however, on the drive to the destination, constant interruptions
occur. If someone needs to go to the restroom, the driver has to find the closest rest stop or if the
car is about to run out of gas, the closest gas station needs to be found. If the area is unfamiliar,
the signs on the side of interstate are the only resource. It is common knowledge that all
businesses near the interstate are more expensive due to the fact that people will stop at their
business in order to not venture away from the original route. There is also the possibility of
hitting traffic, which can cause a major delay in the schedule of the vacation and frustration
amongst the travelers. The lack of knowledge increases frustration and inefficiency while
traveling.
2.2 Problem Characteristics
Without knowing the area being traveled, it could lead to more money spent on traveling than
needed, extra time on the road due to traffic, frustration because you the area is unfamiliar and
distractive driving due to non automated notification applications. These factors could lead a
possible great vacation to a miserable one.
According to United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, 44% of the travel related expenditures are
spend on transportation along with 23% on food and drinks, 23% on lodging and only 10% on
points of interest. In 2008, the average United States household spends about $1,415 on the
travel related expenditures, mentioned above, while on vacation. Figure 1 below shows the
amount of money spent on traveling in the United States from 2006 to what is expected (as
indicated by the dashed line) in 2013.
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Geographical Auto-Delivery System
Figure 1 – Total Travel Expenditures in the United States
From Figure 2, you can see that gas prices are continuing to increase, which is one of the factors
of the traveling expense increase.
Figure 2 – Gas Price Trend
The United States Travel Association forecasts that there will be 450.9 million business trips in
the United States and up to 480 million in 2012. This shows that the amount of traveling is only
going to increase throughout the years.
When traveling in an unfamiliar place, other devices may be needed in order to find the closest
gas station or restaurant, which could case distracted driving. Four out of every five car accidents
are attributed to distractive drivers. In 2008, almost 6,000 people were killed and 500,000 were
injured in car accidents due to distracted driving.
2.3 Customer Definition
When it comes to traveling in unfamiliar places, there are two aspects that need to be considered
in order to make traveling a little easier. The obvious aspect is the actual traveler and the other
are the businesses.
For the actual traveler, a device that makes traveling easier has many benefits. It can cause a
quicker travel to locations, which will allow more people to be on time to where they need to be.
This device could also have a way to avoid traffic, poor road conditions and poor weather
conditions, which can lower frustration when trying to reach the destination. It could even help
locate restaurants (either “sit downs” or fast food) easier, which will also lower the frustration
levels in the traveling process. It could also allow a traveler to explore and enjoy popular
attractions and points of interest within an unknown area by clearly identifying where locations
are within the area the traveler is traveling in. Finally, this device could help a traveler spend less
money overall on a trip by showing the cheapest gas locations or showing how to avoid traffic
spots.
Businesses, who participate in this device, also benefit by many factors. This device would be
another form of advertisement, which could lead to an increase in their customer base. This
especially benefits if the business is a in lesser-known area. Both small gas stations and large gas
station chains could also increase profit by a higher amount of traffic. Fast food chains, family
restaurants and hotel chains also benefit for that same reason.
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Development Plan
Geographical Auto-Delivery System
2.4 Process Flow
When a family decides they are going to take a vacation somewhere, they first consult an aid to
give them directions to where they need to go. They then could hit traffic, which will cause them
to be off schedule and frustrated. As they continue to drive to their destination, their vehicle’s
gas level begins to get low; therefore, they need to stop for gas. They get off the next exit on the
interstate and stop at the closest gas station. That way, they do not get too off the main route,
which could lead to getting lost. The family has now spent a lot of money on the gas since
usually the gas stations near the interstate are the most expensive. As the day continues, the
family needs to stop to get some food. They then need to find a place that everyone agrees on,
which could lead to a very frustrated driver and road rage. All these factors create the worse case
scenario but this could happen and cause a great vacation to be a bad vacation.
2.5 Proposed Solution
The proposed solution to this problem is an application that automatically notifies the user about
relevant traffic and points of interests indicated in the user profile while traveling. The name to
this solution is the Geographical Auto-Delivery System or G.A.S. This application is
downloaded onto a smartphone with a data plan. The user then creates a user profile with his or
her points of interest. When the user goes on a trip, he or she will activate the application and it
will send alerts when nearing a point of interest.
3.
Project Scope
3.1 MFCD
The Major Functional Component Diagram is the primary description of all the software and
hardware within the Geographic Auto-Delivery System (GAS). A computer system with internet
is needed to connect to the G.A.S. in order for our business and individual customers to update
their information within the database. Once this information is updated it will be included in the
database and uploaded to smart phones as regular updates. A smart phone with GPS is needed in
order for the application to function correctly based on the location of the user with a topology
based overlay. For more information, See Figure 3 for more information.
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Development Plan
Geographical Auto-Delivery System
Figure 3 - MFCD
3.2 Process Flow
These process flows describe the current way a trip is done without GAS and what happens
along with how that process changes with GAS. Without GAS, the trip is terrible, starting out
with hitting traffic, becoming late, buying expensive gas, becoming angry and frustrated, not
knowing where anything is, getting confused, all of this leading to road rage and the worst trip
ever. With GAS, the trip significantly changes, automatic updates and autonomous real-time
information allows for the family to avoid traffic, find lower priced gas, enjoy their favorite
restaurant to eat at, and makes for the best trip ever. These diagrams can be seen in Figure 4,
without GAS, and Figure 5, with GAS, respectively.
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Development Plan
Geographical Auto-Delivery System
Figure 4 – Process Flow without GAS
Figure 5 – Process Flow with GAS
3.3 Database ERD and Database Schematic
The Geographical Auto-Delivery System will require a database for the businesses. Each
business chain, whether fast food, sit down restaurant, or hotel will require specific information
be input into the database in order to be included in the phone application. This includes
location, pricing, phone number, and other relevant info to any traveling customers. The
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Development Plan
Geographical Auto-Delivery System
Database Schematic and Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD) are both described in Figure 6 and
Figure 7 respectively below.
Figure 6 – Database Schematic
Figure 7 – Entity Relationship Diagram
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Geographical Auto-Delivery System
3.4 Dataflow Diagram
This diagram describes how information flows through the Geographical Auto-Delivery System.
It is broken into three main steps including handle input, access the database and notify users.
Within the handle input step is a query from the smart phone for information and the response
sent back from the GAS database. The next step is the access database portion of the diagram in
which personal info and trends are exchanged to go into the next step of the data flow. This final
step is the notify users portion in which information and locations are sent to a user smart phone
via real-time automatic autonomous updates. See Figure 8 for more information.
Figure 8 – Dataflow Diagram
3.5 Hardware and Software
The Geographical Auto-Delivery System will require several different types of hardware and
software. One of the main software components is the website which is described by the sitemap
in Figure 9. Standard software necessities are Apache, Tomcat, Oracle SQL Database, Microsoft
Office Professional, and smart phone software development kits for each of our workstations to
test the product as needed. Hardware that will be necessary is mainly laid out in the MFCD in
section 3.5 and includes mainly web servers and work stations. All of this can also be found in
the resource plan and funding plan.
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Development Plan
Geographical Auto-Delivery System
Figure 9 – Sitemap
4.
References
Edgar Snyder and Associates. Car Accident Cell Phone Statistics and Driver Text Message
Facts. November 2010 <http://www.edgarsnyder.com/car-accident/cell-phone/statistics.html>.
garbler.com. Number of Virginia Small Businesses. November 2010
<http://www.gaebler.com/Number-of-Small-Businesss-in-Virginia.htm >.
Mobile Health News. CTIA: 50 million smartphones in US. 24 March 2010. November 2010
<http://mobihealthnews.com/7052/ctia-50-million-smartphones-in-us/ >.
National Business Travel Association. November 2010
<http://www2.nbta.org/Lists/Resource%20Library/NBTA2009Forecast.pdf >.
Nielsen Wire. Smartphones to Overtake Feature Phones in U.S. by 2011. 26 March 2010.
November 2010 <http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/consumer/smartphones-to-overtakefeature-phones-in-u-s-by-2011/ >.
Texas Transportation Institute. Economic factors tap the brakes on traffic congestion. 8 July
2009. November 2010 <http://mobility.tamu.edu/ums/media_information/press_release.stm>.
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U.S. Travel Association. U.S. Travel Forcast. 27 October 2010. November 2010
<http://www.ustravel.org/sites/default/files/page/2009/09/ForecastSummary.pdf >.
United States Department of Labor. Travel: BLS Spotlight on Statistics. July 2010. November
2010 <http://www.bls.gov/spotlight/2010/travel/>.
Zach's Investment Research. Smartphone Growth to Accelerate. 7 June 2010. November 2010
<http://www.zacks.com/stock/news/35221/Smartphone+Growth+to+Accelerate >.
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