Preface

This unit is a combined unit, this will enable you to undertake a single project that will focus on project management and website design and prototyping. The processes that you will go through will simulate a real world project and set of proceses. 

Introduction to the Units

Unit 8 Project Management

Assessment Critiera 

This unit will provide you with the opportunity to understand and use various project planning skills and techniques, thereby enabling you to become more effective in the workplace. The key to any project being a success is the planning that takes place. Project management skills are essential transferrable skills that can be used for all IT related projects whether it’s traditional methodologies or more recently adapted agile approaches within the IT development environment. These skills can be adapted and used even on the smallest ‘tasks’ during the planning and implementation stages. Regardless of your job role, you will often be called upon to participate in projects for a variety of reasons; consequently this unit is optional within all four of the specialist pathways. This unit will assist you in developing your skills, knowledge and understanding of different project methodologies and the key factors that can influence the success or failure of a project. Knowledge gained in the study of this unit will also help prepare you for relevant industry qualifications such as CompTIA Project+. Note: Learners must work on an IT project that would reflect the type of project carried out within the IT industry. For those learners following the Diploma qualifications their chosen project will ideally reflect their chosen specialist pathway.

Unit 21 Website design and prototyping

Organisations are increasingly reliant on their websites to market goods or services and interact with clients and customers. As technology develops, so does the scope of functionality of websites and the importance of an effective design that meets the needs of the organisation. In this unit you will research, design and produce an interactive, responsive website that is specific to a client’s needs, culminating in presenting the concept of the website using the prototype to the client. You will learn about the security risks in website design and how to minimise these threats. This unit will also allow you to incorporate existing interactive elements, as well as prototyping your own website.

This unit is optional within the Application Developer specialist pathway. Job roles within this pathway include web app developers as well as website designers, although these are different jobs with differing requirements, they do require similar skills, knowledge and understanding with respect to website creation and prototyping

Assesment Criteria

Initial Assessment

Using the following link, complete the quiz, this will provide an initial assesment of your knowledge and understanding before your commencement of these units. The assesment will provide data that will be used at setting your predicted grade for this unit. Remember that you should take this quiz seriously as it will enable your tutor to provide you with support to your require level of predicted achievement.

 Use the following link to access the socrative quiz

Soctative

Your Assignment is now available to download from Moodle. This assignment will cover the learning elements that we will be covering over the comming weeks and months. It is IMPORTANT that you read it fully and ensure that you understand what the deliverables are and the scenario used. Failure to check your understanding is correct will result in your submissions being inaccurate and potentially failing to meet the required grading criteria.

Unit 8: Understand the project life cycle

1.1 Project methodologies (e.g. Prince2, waterfall, DMAIC methodology, critical path method (CPM), agile development, individual methodologies as required by the client)

We shall begin our journy in to the world of project management by looking at the term. What is meant by project management?

"Project management is the application of processes, methods, knowledge, skills and experience to achieve the project objectives. General. A project is a unique, transient endeavour, undertaken to achieve planned objectives, which could bedefined in terms of outputs, outcomes or benefits." As defined by the Accociation of Project Managers https://www.apm.org.uk/body-of-knowledge/context/governance/project-management/

There are a number of different project management approaches that a person can use, and in some instances the only approach. Within certian business areas especially in govenment, specific project management schemes must be used. 

Let us look in to more detail at the more well known schemes/approaches available,

1.Agile

The agile approach looks at large projects as these cannot be fully planned as client requirements and objectives are likely to change and fluctuate. Because of these changes it doesnt make logical business sence to be inflexible.

There are 12-principals of agile development these are as follows 

1. The highest level of priorities is ensure that the customer is satisfied  hough the early and continuous delivery of software.
2. To be accepting of changes in requirements even in late develpments. The Agile process embrasses and harness change for the customers competitve advantage.
3. To be avle to provide/deliver functioning software in a relative short timescale, from weeks to months.
4. Key business people and developers need to work together daily thoughout the project.
5. Construct projects around those that are motivatedgiving them the support and environment required to enable them to feel trusted to get the job done.
6. Using face to face discussions within a development team to enable for an efficient and effective channel of communication.
7. Working software is the primary measure of progress and sucsess.
8. The agile process promotes a sustainable development. The sponsors, developers and users should be able to maintain a sustainable pace indefinatly.
9. Attention to the technical details enable the enhancement to achieve excelence and good design that enhances agility.
10. Keeping simplicity, maximising the amount of work not done is essential.
11. The best architeture, designs and requirements come from self-organising teams.
12. Regular reflection enables the teams to become more effecting as it adjusts to its behaviours accordingly.

Adapted from the source www.agilemanifestoorg

The key phases of Algile development are.

1. Envision
2. Speculate
3. Explore and Adapt (These are further broken down)
4. Close 

Create a information booklet on the key phase of Agile. You should provide detail to the stages so that a person new to Project Management could pick it up and understand it.

2. Prince 2

Prince 2 is the defacto project management methodologie used in any governmental establishment. 

Prince 2 has 7 stages within it,

1. A summary statement of why the project is required and what it is expected to achieve. (If the brief is approved a further level of detail will be provided through an improved brief that provides details to necessary expertise, resourcing, information on actions required.)
2. Directing the project via a project board that reviews the detialed brief and considers it agianst the business need and whether it will be a sucess before they appoint a project manager with agreed responcerbilities.
3. Creation of the project initiation documentation.
4. Contorlling a stage
5. Management product delivery
6. Project Closure
7. Planning

3.SDLC(Waterfall)

4. CPM (Critical Path Method)

5. DMAIC

1.2 Project life cycle, i.e.:

• initiation phase

Often refered to as the starting point the initiaition phase of a project requries the project leader and client to look at and consider the following elements of the project.

Why! Why do we need this project, is it really necessary?

Who! Who is it actually for? clients, the clients clients, target audiences, stakeholders?

• planning phase

Possibly the most important part of any project! "If You Fail to Plan, You Plan to Fail." Benjamin Franklin. This stage requires the conversion of the detailed project plan to a series of milestone points that are used by a project manager to determin the progress and implimentation of stages of a project. Builidng a roof before the walls are built! 

The plannign phase of any project must reflect on the work that has been done before. Sir Winston Churchill is credited with saying: “Those who fail to learn from the past are doomed to repeat it.”

• execution phase

• evaluation phase

1.3 Project issues, i.e.:

• communication (e.g. between team members, project manager, stakeholders, clients)

• external factors (e.g. finance, team members, etc.)

• conflicts (e.g. between project team members and/or client)

• lack of management/leadership

• poor planning

• legislation/regulation

Look into the IT horror video and answer the following;

The external & internal factors that impacted the project( legislations, communication, technology, stakeholders, product)

Unit 21: Fundamentals of Web Design

1.1 Components of web design, i.e.:

• domain name

• the purpose or a site map

• the use of hyperlinks to join webpages

• the position, structure and purpose of a navigation bar

• page design (e.g. navigation bar, title, page content, a plan for content management)

• designing for different browsers and devices

• responsive design for mobile/tablet technology
• how browser rendering can affect the layout of a webpage
• an understanding of browser rendering engines as a key to performance
• importance of design that takes this into account, what can happen when it is not considered

• World Wide Web Consortium

• open and closed standards in web development

• storage of data (e.g. linking to a database)

• methods of user interaction

• different methods of interactivity
• use of existing tools
• use of languages to add interactivity( e.g. Javascript, Flash)

Capturing Progress - The teacher matches activities to learning objectives. Learners assess and record progress as they complete the planned activities.

Question and Answer - Verbal discussion with learners to quantify understanding

Unit 21: 1. Understand the fundamentals of web design

Unit 8: 1. Understand the project life cycle

Unit 21 - P1: Describe the key components of website construction

Unit 8 - P1: Explain the different phases within an identified project life cycle

Unit 8 - P2: Describe different project methodologies

Unit 8 - M1: Compare the features and benefits of different project methodologies

Unit 8 -  D1: Evaluate the importance of each phase of the identified

Unit 8 - 1.4 Documentation, i.e.:

• main documentation
  •  project brief/project mandate (overview of project/scope/objectives)
  • project initiation document (PID)/project definitions document (project outline/scope/objectives)
  • contract (agreement from project sponsor/budget holder to start project)
  • business case (project justification, cost versus benefits)
  • client acceptance form (to obtain agreement from project sponsor/budget holder that project is complete)
  • work breakdown structure o project progress report (status updates while project is in progress)
  • project closure report (indication of outcomes) o lessons learned report (also survey)
• main control registers and plans:
  • project planner (visual aid to show the project timelines and activities to be completed)
  • risk register (to record details of project risks, monitoring and management of project risks)
  • issues register (to record details of project issues, monitoring and management of project issues)
  • lessons learned register (to capture details of things when they go wrong to inform report at end of project)

Unit 21 - 1.2 Security risks, i.e.:

• the need for security
• threats (e.g. SQL injection, interception of data, un-validated input)
• prevention (e.g. validation, appropriate passwords, encryption)

Unit 21 - 2.1 Analysing needs, i.e.:

• list of requirements
• purpose of site
• content
• user interactivity required (e.g. submission of data, maps)
• responsive design requirements

Unit 21 - 2.2 Produce a plan, i.e.:

• site map
• navigation bar
• page structure
• design (e.g. font, colour)
• interactive elements to meet the client’s needs
• responsive design
  • for different devices, e.g. tablet, phone, PC
  • for different browsers, e.g. IE, Chrome, Safari

Product Evidence - Learners to create product evidence to demonstrate understanding

Question and Answer - Verbal discussion with learners to quantify understanding

Unit 21 - 2. Be able to plan the development of an interactive website for an identified client

Unit 8 - 1. Understand the project life cycle

Unit 21 - P2*: Determine a client’s requirements for a website (*Synoptic assessment from Unit 1 Fundamentals of IT, Unit 2 Global information)

Unit 21 - P3: Produce a plan for the website that meets the client’s requirements

Unit 21 - D1: Justify the use of components in the website design that meets the client’s requirements

Unit 8 - P3*: Complete the documentation for the initiation phase for an identified project (*Synoptic assessment from Unit 1 Fundamentals of IT, Unit 2 Global information and Unit 3 Cyber security)

Unit 8 - P4: Develop a project plan for the identified project

Unit 8 - M2: Carry out and document a phase review of the project plan

Unit 8 - D2: Create a Business Case to support an identified project

Unit 8 - 3.1 Execution phase, i.e.:

• time (e.g. tracking and recording time spent on tasks as per project plan)
• cost (e.g. identifying and recording costs against budget plan
• quality (e.g. review quality of deliverables and management process)
• change (e.g. reviewing and implementing requests for changes to project)
• risk (e.g. assessing level of project risks and taking action to minimise the risks)
• issue (e.g. identifying and resolving project issues) 
• communication (e.g. communication with stakeholders, end users, clients, project team members) 
• acceptance (e.g. identifying completion of deliverables and gaining client’s acceptance)

Unit 21 - 3.1 Creating a prototype, i.e.:

• setting structure
• adding content 
• inserting hyperlinks

Unit 21 - 3.2 Interactive elements, i.e.:

• existing 
  • copy HTML code from pre-existing components (e.g. social media feeds, videos, maps)
  • editing to make these appropriate for a webpage (e.g. making a map local) 
• language (e.g. Javascript, Flash) 
  • writing code to perform a function 
  • allowing for user interaction (e.g. changing an image based on a user selection, validating input)
• database 
  • creating a database on a server 
  • connecting a webpage to a database using PHP 
  • writing data from a user input (e.g. completion of a form) using MySQL 
• CSS
  • responsive design

Anonymous Assessment - Learners assess an anonymous piece of work containing deliberate mistakes against given success criteria.

Unit 21 - 3. Be able to execute projects

Unit 8 - 3. Be able to create prototype websites for an identified client

Unit 8 - P4: Develop a project plan for the identified project

Unit 8 - P5: Follow the project plan and conduct a phase review of the identified project

Unit 8 - M2: Carry out and document a phase review of the project plan

Unit 21 - P4: Create a prototype of the website for the client

Unit 21 - P5: Conduct testing of the prototype

Unit 21 - M2: Add interactive components to the prototype based upon the client’s requirements

Unit 21 - D2: Evaluate the prototype against the client’s requirements

Unit 8 - 3.3 Testing to include, i.e.:

• checking content is appropriate, correct and complete 
• functionality 
  • embedded components
  • programming language (e.g. Javascript, Flash)
  • database storage 
• comparison to requirements
• responsive design 
  • multiple devices 
  • multiple browsers

Unit 8 - 3.4 Evaluate against client needs including, i.e.:  

• comparison against requirements 
• how the prototype meets the site purpose (e.g. if e-commerce, how this has been incorporated)
• comparison of prototype against content required
• comparison of interactivity built in, against the user’s interactive requirements
• comparison of responsive design to user’s responsive design requirements
• justify choices made in the development of the prototype against the original needs
• improvements - suggest improvements to the design, structure or function of the prototype

Unit 8 - 3.1 Execution phase, i.e.:

• phase review
  • is the project under schedule and within budget? 
  • have the deliverables been produced and approved? 
  • have the risks been controlled and mitigated? 
  • have issues been resolved? 
  • is the project on track?  
  • should the project continue? 
• project closure report (final document produced to enable formal closure of the project) 
  • project summary 
  • reason for project closure (has the project reached its planned end date or is it being closed prematurely for some reason?) 
  • assessment of project performance (how well did the project perform against the business case?) 
    • achievement of the project objectives, outputs and activities (where was the project successful or not successful?) 
    • performance against planned time, resources and costs (explanation of variance from original planned milestones, costs or allocated resources)
    • performance against planned savings and benefits (explanation of any variance from original planned benefits)
  • lessons learned 
  • celebrating success (what were the biggest successes for the project?) 
  • next steps (description of any outstanding actions and handover arrangements)
    • outstanding activities
    • remaining risks and issues
    • on-going dependencies
    • costs of on-going support
    • stakeholder communications
    • handover of assets and contracts

Anonymous Assessment - Learners assess an anonymous piece of work containing deliberate mistakes against given success criteria.

Unit 8 - 3. Be able to execute projects

Unit 21 - 3. Be able to create prototype websites for an identified client

Unit 8 - 4.1 Evaluation phase, i.e.:

• Obtain feedback from: 
• clients 
• stakeholders 
• users 
• team
  • has the project: 
    • delivered business benefits identified in the business case? 
    • achieved the objectives in the terms of reference? 
    • deviated from the original scope? 
    • met the quality targets identified in the quality plan? 
    • proceeded according to the delivery schedule? 
    • deviated from the budget as defined in the financial plan? 
    • deviated from forecast resource levels as per the resource plan? 
    • conformed to the management process as per the execution phase? 
  • the effect the selected tools and methods have had on the outcome of the project  
  • identify major achievements and the positive effect on the client’s business 
  • identify any project failures and the effects on the client’s business
  • identify lessons learned 
  • identify potential improvements for similar future projects

Unit 21 - 3.4 Evaluate against client needs including, i.e.: 

• comparison against requirements
• how the prototype meets the site purpose (e.g. if e-commerce, how this has been incorporated)
• comparison of prototype against content required
• comparison of interactivity built in, against the user’s interactive requirements 
• comparison of responsive design to user’s responsive design requirements
• justify choices made in the development of the prototype against the original needs
• improvements - suggest improvements to the design, structure or function of the prototype

Anonymous Assessment - Learners assess an anonymous piece of work containing deliberate mistakes against given success criteria.

Unit 21 - 3. Be able to create prototype websites for an identified client

Unit 8 - 4. Be able to carry out project evaluations

Unit 21 - 4.1 Present the solution, i.e.: •

• choose a suitable method of presentation (e.g. live demonstration, use of presentation software, report) •
• plan a presentation to incorporate: o
  • comparison of website against requirements o
  • demonstration of functionality o
  • demonstration of interactivity o
  • demonstration of responsive design o
  • justification of design choices
• present the solution to the client

Unit 21 - 4.2 Future security and maintenance considerations, i.e.: 

• updating of content
• training of staff 
• threats to information security 
• protection methods for securing personal data/information

Anonymous Assessment - Learners assess an anonymous piece of work containing deliberate mistakes against given success criteria.

Unit 21 - 4. Be able to present the interactive website concept to an identified client