A SYSTEMS ANALYSIS AND DESIGN
CASE: GREENER E-BIKE
Honglei Li
School of Computing, Engineering, and Information Science, Northumbria University,
Newcastle Upon Tyne UK.
Email: Honglei.Li@northumbria.ac.uk
Abstract
This paper introduces a case study based on a start-up company called Greener Electronic Bike. This company
was set up by two bicycle fans in the year 2006. After the initial setting up of the company, the electronic
bicycles were sold successfully to major retailers such as Argos or Halfords. In the last few years they decided
to expand the company by setting up an online storefront on the Internet by hiring a consulting company. The
case provides the background for students to work on a set of assignments by analysing the many challenges
and problems this small company might face as it continues to grow.Teaching notes are provided in the second
part of the case study and a sample systems analysis and design (SAD) project specification with solutions is
illustrated for lecturers to refer. The analysis phase of the SAD project is then discussed and key issues are
raised.
Keywords: Teaching case, Electronic Bike, Greener, Systems analysis and design, SDLC
A SYSTEMS ANALYSIS AND DESIGN
CASE: GREENER E-BIKE
Abstract
This paper introduces a case study based on a start-up company called Greener Electronic Bike. This company
was set up by two bicycle fans in the year 2006. After the initial setting up of the company, the electronic
bicycles were sold successfully to major retailers such as Argos or Halfords. In the last few years they decided
to expand the company by setting up an online storefront on the Internet by hiring a consulting company. The
case provides the background for students to work on a set of assignments by analysing the many challenges
and problems this small company might face as it continues to grow. Teaching notes are provided in the second
part of the case study and a sample systems analysis and design (SAD) project specification with solutions is
illustrated for lecturers to refer. The analysis phase of the SAD project is then discussed and key issues are
raised.
Keywords: Teaching case, Electronic Bike, Greener, Systems analysis and design, SDLC
1.0
Greener E-Bike Case
Greener E-Bike is a small company set up by two bicycle fans, Paul and Peter, in the year
2006. Paul used to be an engineer and he invented a very light folding electronic bicycle—
weighing only 9KG and using the same battery as those used in mobile phones and laptops.
Peter used to be a designer in an air-conditioning company. He applied his expertise to design
the bicycle in a way that is highly functional as normal electronic bicycles but yet both
fashionable and colourful. The company outsources all the parts of the bicycle to a
manufacturer and assembles finished bicycles in their Garage. To protect their products,
Greener’s E-Bike has been patented. A series of their products in different colours and styles
are very popular among the younger age market. Because the product is super light yet
smaller compared to the normal bikes, it can be folded and put in the boot of a car. Both
children and adults can ride the bike. However, the cost of the E-Bike is much higher
compared to normal bikes. For example, normal bikes without batteries are sold at a price of
£200 pounds but a Greener E-bike is sold at the price of around £500 pounds. A very popular
style of the Greener e-bike is similar to pictures shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1. Greener E-Bike Pictures
The uniqueness of the the Greener bike lies not in its ultra-lightness but also its fun for riding.
While the traditional bikes are comparatively heavy and big and perceived as a transportation
tool, the Greener E-Bike provides functions well beyond just a transportation tool but for
leisure and play. Because of its unique design, it has been perceived as a fashionable
expression of oneself. It can be used on pedals alone, on electric power alone, or combined.
The ultra-small design of the bike makes it easy to be ridden on almost every occasion. Some
people ride it to commute to work and some other people just use it as a leisure tool. The
following Youtube video demonstrates how it could be ridden for fun at home.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hyHbAByzFY
The company used to be a wholesaler providing new Greener E-bikes to shops and
supermarkets. They have several stable business customers such as Argos and Halfords. The
current business model is stable and the revenues are stable. They can sell about 300 E-Bikes
across the UK and earn about £60, 000 pounds annual net profit. In the past several years,
sales have grown at 3 to 5 per cent every year. The problem with the current selling strategy
is that sales are restricted by the shops and supermarkets. The company does not have enough
permission to launch promotion and brand awareness and so this can be limiting. Meanwhile,
it’s very hard to get customers’ feedbacks on the bike. For example, not many people notice
the Greener E-Bike in Argos’ thousands of pages catalogue.
1.1 Business Needs
After researching the current bicycle market, Paul and Peter decided to change the current
business model by not only providing bicycles to shops and supermarkets, but also opening
up an online store to sell Greener E-Bikes directly to customers. They have considered selling
in E-Bay and other auction websites but found that there are too many limitations. For
example, they can’t display the unique functions of their bicycles. The payment methods are
very restricted and the commission charge for the business accounts in E-Bay is quite high.
After all the initial market research, they are considering setting up their own online shop.
They considered hiring a software development company to design their own online shop.
Their initial budget for this project is £50,000 pounds. They hope the new systems can
increase their sales at least 30% annually.
1.2 Requirements for the New Website
Currently, they have a very simple website that provides basic information about the
company and the E-Bicycle (the product information showing simple pictures, contact
methods, operating hours, etc). The website was developed by an Internet Service Provider
(ISP) in the UK and maintained by Paul. The ISP cost is about £1000 pounds per year
including hosting and maintaining the web pages. Paul is enthusiastic with technology,
especially Internet technology. He normally maintains the current system through the Internet
from his home computer. It’s easy and he only needs a virgin media broadband connection to
the ISP server at the cost of £25 pounds per month. However, he still has a lot to learn when
it comes to conducting business over the web. As such, Greener E-Bike is interested in
investigating the possibility of creating an e-commerce site that will work with the current
website.
They would like the new website to help them to sell their Greener E-Bikes online.
Specifically, they hope the website can enable the customers to







Search and browse various bikes
Place orders through the website
Get feedback from customers
Provide functions for customers to interact with each other
Provide the support information for the e-bike
Promote e-bikes through the website
Provide a business customer section for the existing shops such as Argos. This section should give
business customer simple information and contact methods.
As for the maintenance of the website, they would like it to be hosted in the existing ISP at
the price of £2000 pounds per year. They also expect Paul to act as the main person to
maintain the website to save costs. By hosting the websites in another website this way, they
can save both hardware and software costs. There is no need for them to consider upgrading
the current computer and purchasing any new software. They also hope no more staff can be
hired after the new website is implemented as they don’t really have an official office.
Everything seems promising with setting up a new online selling website. Will all their
requirements be met by the new online selling website? Is there any challenge they are going
to face but neglect? How realistic are their estimates? What else they should take into
account? In your assignment you will help the founder of E-Bike to develop and implement
their new strategy.
2.0 Teaching Notes
2.1 Background
Systems Analysis & Design (SAD) is often difficulty to teach not only because it’s hard to
get students involved but also because SAD itself is a practical field. This is true in both
classroom teaching and after class assessment. To get knowledge delivered effectively, real
examples and cases are often essential for students to grasp the abstract concept from
practice. Without a solid practical ground, it’s very common for lecturers to ‘talk to the air’
without enough students’ reaction and interaction in the classroom. The assessment for SAD
should also be closely associated with the practical cases and examples of real companies for
students to have the real sense of the SAD process. As the SAD projects requires the IS
analyst to have a great understanding of the business problem, the technology, and the
business processes to solve the problem, learning SAD itself is a process that will develop
students’ communicational, interpersonal, and collaborative skills. It’s based on this practical
philosophy that the IS curriculum design recommends (Topi et al., 2010) from the
communication of AIS and ACM who proposed that a course project is highly recommended
for the design of SAD courses.
To develop technical and non-technical skills needed for the SAD course, broadly speaking,
two alternatives for group projects might be adopted by lecturers. The first approach is for
lecturers to assign students a real company for them to analyse the problem and provide SAD
solutions. Lecturers have the responsibility of either identifying a suitable company or
assigning a well-known company for students to do the assignment. Students benefit from
this approach by understanding the real situation and interacting with the real world scenario.
However, this approach is challengeable in several ways. First, it’s time consuming for the
lecturers to contact the real company. Second, not all students are active enough to interact
with the real companies. The majority of them might just do a surficial job. Alternatively, the
lecturer might use a written case for students to work out a project solution for the case.
Normally these cases are accompanied with the textbook. However, many SAD cases in the
textbook are often too tedious for students to follow. Even lecturers have to spend much time
to figure out the case background and requirements to do the project. Design of the group
projects from textbook cases is not an easy task due to the complexity of the case itself. There
is a need for concise and small cases to design the undergraduate SAD group projects. The
requirements for the case should consider providing the real world business scenario but keep
all business details as concise as possible. At the same time, the business functions and
context of the case should enable students to understand the business problem, analyse the
business process, and provide the solution easily. This means no complex business function
should be involved.
This paper presents a concise written case ideal for the SAD group projects. The case of
Greener E-Bike is based on real online selling scenarios common to many companies,
especially SMEs. In only around 1000 words, it addresses all the basic business functions
from customer information management, ordering and ordering management, delivery, to
customer services management, enough to provide all materials necessary to do the SAD
projects. It also captures all the fundamental business processes and is detailed enough to
stimulate students’ creative thinking skills at the same time. Specific data to analyse for the
SAD project, especially the systems analysis data are also provided. It consists of case
background information, the text of the case, and discussion of the requirements analysis of
the case. The paper illustrated how to design the SAD project for students to develop their
communication and group collaboration skills. Finally, the solution for the SAD of the case
is provided including the most essential information such as project proposal, feasibility
analysis, requirements definition, use case, data flow diagrams, ERD, and functional
diagrams. The case could also be easily adapted to do object-oriented SAD projects with
UML. The guidelines on delivering the case are discussed.
The case presented here has been used in a level 2 undergraduate semester-long course,
Systems Analysis and Design in a British Business School. The course is called SAD but the
main focus is on the system analysis phase because systems analysis skills are more favoured
for business students. The course was designed to enable students to understand skills
necessary to analyse the business problems by tools such as use cases, DFD, and ERD. The
aims of the course are to enable students to understand the importance of the SAD, the SAD
project life cycle, and all the essential steps to develop a SAD proposal. The focus of the
assignment thus requires students to analyse the presented case here and provide a system
proposal for the case problems. The course adopted the textbook Systems Analysis and
Design from Denis et al. (Dennis, Wixom, & Roth, 2012).
Students worked in group of 5 through the whole semester for this project. They are required
to act as the software development company. The task is to do the analysis and design job for
Greener E-Bike’s e-commerce website using the concept of Systems Development Life Cycle
(SDLC) method. They need to provide a systems proposal based on the Systems
Development Life Cycle (SDLC) method. The templates for each deliverable will be given
based on the course content. If they need to have an interview with the management team of
the Greener E-Bike Company, they can make an appointment with the Greener E-Bike
representative, the lecturer whenever they feel there is a need to do so. The assignment is
announced in the beginning of the term but released at the fourth week. The average grade for
the project is 60 out of 100.
2.2 Case Analysis Illustration
Following the guidelines from the textbook (Dennis, Wixom, & Roth, 2012; Dennis, Wixom,
& Tegarden, 2012), The analysis phase normally started with a systems request together with
a series of other documents including feasibility analysis, requirements analysis, use cases,
business process analysis logic through Data Flow Diagram (DFD), and ER-D. All the
documents combined together is called a systems proposal. Use cases are normally used in
the UML approach but we also taught here for students to understand the business scenario.
It’s thus also included in the assignment as a major part. Students are required to produce a
system proposal with all the above documents. The following section presented the case of
Greener E-Bike.
The analysis phase started with understanding the company. Students are required to first
start with the table of contents of the system proposal. Those documents produced by
students are written in italic. An executive summary is the first component required. It should
summarize all the essential information in the proposal so that a busy executive can read it
quickly and decide what parts of the plan to read in more depth. Many students did not
achieve this objective by either providing unrelated content or lengthy descriptions of the
project. Lecturers should emphasize clearly on this point in the beginning of the project and
recap it before project submission.
The next component is the system request, which details the business needs of the project.
Students should be able to relate the business requirements and needs with the project
description. They should be able to distinguish the business needs and link them with the
potential benefits provided. This is the very hard part in terms of grasping the concepts for
the students. Here the business needs are setting up an online bike shop so that more
customers could buy bikes online. The online shop should provide the functions of displaying
products, placing orders, and customer interaction. The online systems are expected to attract
more customers and generate 30% more revenue each year. Students are expected to analyse
and convert those benefits from this online shop into tangible benefits and intangible benefits.
The feasibility analysis thus further details the business needs in the specific levels, technical
feasibility, economic feasibility, and organizational feasibility. Here the technical feasibility
might have some risk because both owners of the shop don’t have experience of online
selling and management. A cost-benefit analysis tables is required to provide essential
information for the business case. Students in this phase should be able to identify both the
tangible and intangible costs and benefits to do the calculations and find the break-even point.
The aim of this part is for students to understand the practical criteria for a SAD project to be
approved. In the next step, the requirements definitions are captured by interviewing the
company representative. Students need to classify requirements into functional and nonfunctional requirements and list the specific functions. The detailed functions are provided in
the appendix. Students normally struggle in this part because they might not want to
interview the company representative. That’s why the interview scripts are assessed as part of
the assignment.
After the initial four components, the next three components included in the system proposal
are use cases, business process model by Data Flow Diagram (DFD), and ER diagram.
Students should be aware that these three components are closely related with the previous
three components, particularly the requirements definition components. Use cases illustrate
the basic process that the systems need to support. Here customers view and select bikes,
customers place orders and check, and customer’s feedback to the website are three main
important business scenarios involved. Students are easily lost in this part as they couldn’t
identify and simplify the process. They normally come out with every detail of the scenarios.
Some students might mix up business processes with credit card check out process, which is
outsourced to the third party. After the use cases, the DFD provides a set of process models
including contextual diagrams, level 0 and 1 diagrams, and descriptions of the to-be system
should be provided. This may include process models of the current as-is system that will be
replaced. Students might provide different styles of diagrams and they are required to use the
Crow’s Foot notation for DFD. Consistent with the uses cases, DFDs are drawn in three
levels, with level 2 describing activities in each business process. Lastly, the ER diagram
provides a set of data models and descriptions for the to-be system. This may include data
models of the as-is system that will be replaced. Again, the diagram requires students to use
Gane and Sarson’s symbol set. Students are recommended to use Microsoft Visio to draw
these diagrams. The detailed solutions for use cases, DFDs, and ERD are provided in the
appendix section. Students are required to compile all documents together and make it the
system proposal of the Greener E-Bike company.
3.0 Conclusions
This paper provided a case on SAD with teaching notes and suggested solutions. This case
has been successfully used the level 2 undergraduate SAD group project for two years in a
business school in a British University. The class size is around 100 students each year.
During the first year, the normal system analysis method with data flow diagrams was
adopted and the OOSAD approach with UML was adopted during the second year. Students
are guided for the whole period of the project and interviews are taken during the group
project period. By doing the group project, students are given opportunities to interact with
lecturers and their general feedbacks on this case are positive. The case could also be used in
other related courses such as business process management, electronic commerce, systems
analysis, electronic marketing, etc.
References:
Dennis, A., Wixom, B. H., & Roth, R. M. (2012). Systems analysis and design (5th ed.).
Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley.
Dennis, A., Wixom, B. H., & Tegarden, D. P. (2012). Systems analysis design, UML version
2.0 : an object oriented approach (4th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
Topi, H., Valacichy, J. S., Wrightz, R. T., Kaiser, K., NunamakerJr., J. F., Sipiorzz, J. C., &
Vreede, G.-J. d. (2010). IS 2010: Curriculum Guidelines for Undergraduate Degree
Programs in Information Systems. Communications of the Association for
Information Systems, 26, pp. 359-428.
Appendix: Suggested Solution and Marking Scheme for the SAD
Project
System Request (4 marks)
Marking allocation: business need, project description, and special issues 1
mark, business requirements 1 mark, and business value 2 marks)
Project Name: Greener E-Bike Online Selling System
Project Sponsor: Greener E-Bike Company
Name: Paul
Department: Founder
Organization: Greener E-Bike Company
Business Need:
This project has been initiated to increase sales by creating the capability of selling EBikes to customers over the Internet using the existing website provided by an ISP.
Business Requirements (Functionality): (1 mark)
Using the built website, the customers should browse bikes and place orders over the
Internet. There should also be some product support and customer support function.
Specifically, the website should provide the following major functions.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Search and browse various bikes
Place orders through the website
Get feedbacks from customers
Provide functions for customers to interact with each other
Provide the support information for the e-bike
Promote e-bikes through the website
Provide a business customer section for the existing shops such as Argos. This section
should give business customer simple information and contact methods.
Business Value: (2 marks depending on the answer there should be two points
provided)
Currently the e-bikes are only sold in the shops and supermarkets. Customer can’t be
aware of the product name as well as the product functions. We expected the new
system can provide a direct selling channel to the market. Conservatively, we expect a
steady growth in sales after the new system installed.
Tangible:
We expected the company can increase sales by 30%, 18, 000 pounds in the first year,
23,400 pounds in the second year, and 71, 820 in the third year
Intangible:
Our current problem is that selling can only be through shops and supermarkets by
our business customer with low brand name awareness. We would expect that the
brand name awareness be increased after the launch of the website. We also expect
that our website can join some affiliate E-Bike selling website such as E-
Bikedirect.co.uk and British Electronic bicycle Association http://www.bebaonline.co.uk/British_Electric_Bicycle_Association_-_BEBA/Welcome.html so that
more selling will be reached.
Special Issues or Constraints:
We might view this as a strategic system. This internet system will add value to our
current business model, and it also will serve as a proof-of-concept for future internet
endeavours. For example, we might shift our focus on direct selling over the internet.
We can also expand our business this way.
The system should be in place for the Christmas shopping season the end of the year.
There might be the need to have some backup mechanism for the systems.
Feasibility Analysis (6 marks)
(Students should demonstrate analysis in the answer)
Mark distribution (technical feasibility 2 marks: economic feasibility 2 marks, and organizational feasibility 2
marks)
After careful investigation, the development team provided the following feasibility analysis.
Technical Feasibility: Can We Build It?
The Greener E-Bike online selling system is feasible technically, although there is some risk.



Greener E-Bike’s familiarity with online selling applications is moderately high.
1. Both Paul and Peter have little experience with the online selling business model.
2. There are many similar online bicycle selling websites. They can learn from them.
Greener E-Bike’s risk regarding familiarity with the technology is moderately low.
1. Paul is enthusiastically eager to learn online selling knowledge and he is fan of all
kinds of Internet. The learning curve is not very steep.
2. Both Paul and Peter have no direct knowledge of the technology required to provide
online selling; however, many of the technical issues will be responsibility of the ISP.
3. Consultants are readily available to provide help in this area.
The project size is considered low risk.
1. The project team will likely consist of 5 or fewer people.
2. Both Paul and Peter should be involved during development process.
3. There is no time frame required in the case.
Economic Feasibility: Should We Build It?
A cost-benefit analysis was performed; see the attached table for details. A conservative
approach shows that the Greener Online Selling System has a good chance of bringing
revenue significantly.
 Development Costs
50000 pounds at most
 Annual Operating Costs
Only 1000 ISP hosting charge applies
 Annual Benefits (Cost Savings and Revenues)
30% growth per year, resulting at least 18000 pounds per year, total net benefits after 5 years:
89,787.89 pounds (adjusted for present value)
ROI over 5 years: 132 percent
Break-even occurs: after 2.43 years

Intangible Costs and Benefits
 Improved customer satisfaction
 Greater brand recognition
Organizational Feasibility: If We Build It, Will They Come?
Since this is a very small company consisting of only two people, Paul and Peter, the major
user would be customers. The project has low risk. The objective of the system, which is to
increase sales, is aligned well with Greener’s goal of increasing sales for the company. The
move to the Internet also aligns with Greener’s goal of doing marketing promotions and
interacting directly with customers.

Project Champion(s)
Paul is the project champion mainly responsible for the communication with the development
team and the maintenance of the system.

Senior Management
As this is a small company, both Peter and Paul agree to develop the company. There is no
problem of senior management support.

Users
The user of this system will be internet consumers. As there exist already many similar online
shops such as online bicycle shops and online car shops, there should be no difficult for internet
consumers to buy electronic bicycles online.

Other Stakeholders
As this is the project sponsored only by Greener, there are no other stakeholders in this project.
Additional comments
As this internet selling system is a strategic change for Greener E-Bike, it will add value to
the existing business model, and it also will serve as a proof of concept for future internet
endeavors.
There are several other websites selling electronic bicycles, but our selling point is that it is
light, fashionable, and foldable.
Several UK electronic bicycle websites: http://www.poweredbicycles.co.uk/;
http://www.electricbikesales.co.uk/;
http://www.powacycle.co.uk/;
http://www.e-
bikesdirect.co.uk; http://www.electricbike.org.uk/; http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/;
However, none of them got this stylish Greener E-Bike. We must emphasize the innovative,
green, and light culture in our website design.
Cost Benefit Analysis Table
Items
Increased sales from
new customer
Total Benefits
PV of Total Benefits
Labor: Analysis and
Design
ISP Operation
Total Costs
PV of All costs
Total
Project
of
benefits-costs
Yearly NPV
Cumulative NPV
Return on Investment
Break-even point
break-even
occurs in year
0.437203 3
Intangible Benefits
2010
2011
2012
2013
18000
18000
18000
23400
23400
22285.71
30420
30420
27591.84
39546
39546
34161.32
51409.8
51409.8
42294.97
162775.8
162775.8
144333.8
50000
1000
51000
51000
0
1000
1000
952.381
0
1000
1000
907.0295
0
1000
1000
863.8376
0
1000
1000
822.7025
50000
5000
55000
54545.95
-33000
-33000
-33000
1.646096
22400
21333.33
-11666.7
29420
26684.81
15018.14
38546
33297.48
48315.62
50409.8
41472.27
89787.89
107775.8
89787.89
89787.89
improved
customer
satisfaction
Greater brand and
recognition
feedback
2014 Total
2.43
Requirements Definition （8 marks）
Functional requirements: （5 marks）
1. Maintain E-Bike Information
1.1 The Internet sales system will need a database of basic information about the E-Bikes that it can sell
over the Internet. it should contain the basic information about the model, size, color of the bicycle.
1.2 Every day the Internet sales system will receive an update from Peter concerning number of EBicycles sold out and produced by them.
1.3 Both Peter and Paul should be able to update the systems
2. Search and browse various bikes
2.1 Customers should be able to browse the main categories of the E-bike product line, currently Silver
Rabbit, Pink Rabbit, Blue Rabbit, Black Rabbit and Yellow Rabbit. Each product line has two sizes,
12-14” wheel size and 14-16” wheel size.
2.2 The Internet sales system should allow Paul and Peter to promote the E-bike online. For example,
there might be Christmas sales time when customers get a 10% discount for an additional bicycle.
During promotion time, customer can also get free accessories. The internet sales system should also
provide such function.
3. Place orders through the website
3.1 After customers find the E-bike they want, the customer will check out by providing personal
information (e.g., name, e-mail, address, credit cards), and information regarding the order (e.g., the
E-Bike to purchase, the quantity for each E-bike, the color and size of the E-bike).
3.2 The system will verify the customer’s credit card information with an online credit card clearance
center and either accept the order or reject it.
3.3 The E-bike will be distributed to the customers through the delivery system.
3.4 The Internet sales systems should recorded those orders to be delivered and update the delivery
information once the Bicycle is delivered.
4. Support and Get feedbacks from customers
4.1 The Internet system should provide the customers a function area for customer to feedback the E-bikes
they are using. As Paul is very familiar with the online forum, he preferred that this online sales
system can provide a forum for customer to register and exchange ideas with each other.
4.2 There should be a webpage providing the manual and FAQ about the function of the E-bike. The
support information should also be provided online. There should be a link directing customers to the
online forum for them to interact with other customers.
5. Provide a business customer section for the existing shops such as Argos. This section should give
business customer simple information and contact methods.
Nonfunctional requirements: （3 marks）
1. Operational (1 mark)
1.1 The Internet system will work over the web environment with all types of main web browsers, Google
Chrome, IE, Mozilla.
1.2 The system will read and information from the main database including order, bicycle, and customers.
The internet system needs to write to the main bicycle database.
1.3 The forum database will be separated from the main database.
1.4 The system will should have links to direct customers to some bicycle associations such as British
Electronic bicycle Association http://www.beba-online.co.uk/British_Electric_Bicycle_Association__BEBA/Welcome.html.
1.5 The system will need to remain current with evolving web standards.
1.6 No special maintainability requirements are anticipated.
2. Performance (1 mark)
2.1 Response time must be less than 7 seconds for the browsing, order check out, and online forum
function.
2.2 There will be a maximum of 30 simultaneous users at peak use times.
2.3 The system should be available 24/7.
2.4 The system shall have 99% uptime performance.
2.5 Customer account in the online sales system and the forum should be consistent.
3. Security (0.5 mark)
3.1 No special system value requirements are anticipated.
3.2 Customers can access their accounts with username and password
3.3 Customer payment information must be transmitted securely.
4. Cultural and political (0.5 mark)
4.1
4.2
4.3
4.4
No special multilingual requirements are anticipated.
No special customization requirements are anticipated.
No special unstated norms requirements are anticipated.
No special legal requirements are anticipated.
Use Case (7 marks)
For the Greener E-Bike selling system, there might be several events, (1) search and browse, (2)
purchase, (3) promote, (4) use feedback and interaction area, and (5) business customer contact.
(6) Provide support information. As (4) can be used by online forum software and (5) & (6) can
be implemented through static web pages, it is not necessary to use a use case to describe the
scenario. We can thus have (1) search and browse e-bike (2) purchase e-bike, (3) interact with
customer combining both promote and user feedbacks and interactions into one use case. Thus,
we have three use cases here as follows.
Use Case 1: search and browse E-Bike (3 marks)
Use Case Name: Search and Browse E-bikes
ID: _1 __
Importance level: _ _High __
Primary actor: Customer
Short Description:
This use case handles customers who search and browse the E-Bikes on the web site.
Trigger: customer arrives at web site to search and browse e-bike selections
Type: External
Major Inputs:
Major Outputs:
Description
Source
Description
Destination
customer request
Customer
E-Bike information
Customer
e-bike matching request
Available e-bike
Selected E-bike to buy
Purchase E-Bike
customer selections
Customer
promotions
Targeted promotions
Major Steps Performed
1) customer enters web site, promote web
customization with promotion information
if there is any
2) customer enters search request
Information for Steps
Targeted Promotion
Search request
E-bike matching request
3) customer selects bicycle
3.1 to check the detailed specification of ebike
3.2 to buy
E-bike detailed specification
Selected e-bike to buy
Use Case 2 Purchase E-Bike (3 marks)
Use Case Name: Purchase E-Bike
ID: _ 2__ Importance level: _high __
Primary actor: Customer
Short Description: This use case handles the purchase of E-Bike
Trigger: Customer selects E-bike to buy
Type: External
Major Inputs:
Major Outputs:
Description
Source
Description
Destination
Selected E-bike to buy
Search and Browse
New customer record
Customer file
Customer Details
Customer
Total cost of purchase
Customer
Customer Details
Customer
New purchase record
Sales file
Bike price
Bike information file
Order confirmation
Customer
Payment details
Customer
CC charge
CC company
CC authorization
CC clearinghouse
Shipping information
Shipping file
Shipping information
Customer
Purchase confirmation
Customer
Major Steps Performed
Information for Steps
1) e-bike is selected to buy.
2) If returning customer, access account information
e-bike to buy customer details
3) If new customer, establish account if requested;
otherwise, gather customer information.
New customer detail
4) Obtain e-bike price(s) and calculate total purchase
cost.
Total purchase cost
5) Gather shipping information
Shipping information
6) Gather payment information
Selected e-bike
Customer username and password
Customer details
Customer details
New customer record
e-bike price
total purchase cost
e-bike
to buy
Purchase
cost
Customer
detail
Payment
details
7) Verify payment information
shipping information
e-bike
to buy
Purchase
cost
Customer
detail
Payment
details
payment detail
CC authorization
Customer purchase confirmation
e-bike
to buy
Purchase
cost
Customer
detail
Payment
details
Shipping information
New purchase record
8) Get customer purchase confirmation
9) purchase confirmation
CC charge
Order confirmation
Use Case 3: Interact with Customer ( 1mark)
Use Case Name: Interact with Customer
ID: _3__
Importance level: _ _High __
Primary actor: Paul and Peter
Short Description:
This use case handles the promotions, feedbacks from customers, and customer interactions
Trigger: customer arrives at web site to search and browse e-bike selections
Type: Temporal
Major Inputs:
Description
Major Outputs:
Source
Description
Destination
Customer purchases
sales file
Customer feedback request
customer
Customer feedbacks
customer
Promotions
customer
Customer online forum discussions customer
Major Steps Performed
Information for Steps
1) Search and customer purchases to decide
promotions
Customer purchases
2) Create promotional choices
3) Create email messages to customers for
feedbacks and forum participation
4) Create email messages to customers for
promotions
Customer feedback request
Customer forum invitation
Promotions
5) Obtain feedbacks
6) Store forum discussions
Customer feedbacks
Customer forum discussions
Data Flow Diagram (7 marks, context level 1 marks, level 0 3 marks, 1 mark to each level 1)
Greener E-Bike: Context level DFD and Level 0 DFD
Level 1 DFD for Greener E-Bike: Search and Browse E-Bike
Level 1 DFD for Greener E-Bike: Purchase E-Bike
Level 1 DFD for Greener E-Bike: Interact with Customer
ER-Diagram (7 marks)
Students should first have the major entity such as sale, customer, e-bike to get 2 marks
Then to have promotion, feedbacks, shipping, and forum discussions for another 2 marks
The correct relationships will be given 3 marks
Note: sale and Available E-Bike should have m:n relationsip but the software couldn’t draw this out.