Searching Facility
The requirements for the search facility in the Entourage system according to the information gathered during interviews with the key stakeholders of the system are provided in this section. Prototypes of the search facility and the profile are included here. There are two distinct search facilities which perform different but complementary functions, namely the simple search and the advanced search.
Simple search Facility
This will allow users to search the system by entering keywords only. The system will return a number of profiles matching the specified keyword, which can be narrowed down according to the requirement of the user, by refining the search using an advanced search facility.
Advanced Search Facility
This will allow users to search the system using a wide range of criteria by selecting multiple options according to requirement, the criteria can also be narrowed down to just specifics or the user may decide to use the whole range of criteria provided by the system. The results returned by using the advanced facility will be exact matches of the criteria entered.
Presentation of Search Result
Both of the search options will return the results in the same format showing head-shoulder pictures of all matching profile up to 15 pictures per page with link to view the subsequent pages of the results. The display of the pictures of matching actor’s profile will be randomize for every search and refresh irrespective of, if the same search criteria are used or not and the user will be able to click on any of the pictures to view the actor’s profile.
Keyword Library
Both the casting director and Agent use different words to describe a context, in order to help stakeholders of the system both the Agents and the Casting directors to be able to use the search facility successfully and get the most out of the system, a keyword library is required in the search facility so, that both party will be able to understand and use keywords, applied in the context of their different operations.
Saving Searches
This is required in order to make efficient use of the system and to help users plan their use of the system according to their requirements.
- Save searches for later use in subsequent searches
Users will be able to save the criteria for their searches in their private filing space provided in the system for later without having to enter the same criteria again.
- To save the results of searches
Users will be able to save the results returned from their searches in their private filing space, for later review without having to perform another search.
Benefit of the Search facility to the Users
Simple Search Facility
- Allows the casting director to search for a wide range of Actors that meets specified criteria used as the keyword in the search.
- Useful for Agent to search the system using keywords to search for actors’ profile that needs to be edited or updated, such name or role.
- Useful for searching for a wide range of matches that can be saved for later viewing.
Advanced Search Facility
- Allows user to refine searches to required specified criteria thereby saving time taken to search.
- Allows user to search using wide range of criteria when required.
Presentation of search result
- Allows user to see a number of Actor’s faces at the same time beneficial for the casting director in selecting actors for roles.\
- Randomized display allows the casting director to be able to see different actors’ faces for every search allowing him to widen his selection scope.
Saving searches
- Beneficial for casting director when a wide range of result is generated from search and not enough time to look through, user can save result and come back to it later.
- Useful for the Agent when reviewing and updating a large number of profiles.
- Saves time in entering new search criteria for every single search requiring the same criteria.
- Helps in the organization of the searches and the results from the searches, for easy retrieval for later use
Search criteria
In order to facilitate the use of the search facility efficiently by the users the criteria listed below were gathered during the investigation but they are not exhaustive and the Actors’ profile are also required to be based on the criteria including a comprehensive CV and show reels.
- Age
- Gender
- Height
- Accent
- Mother tongue
- Spoken languages and fluency
- Special skills or talent, likes music, horse riding, instrument played, dance and type of dance
- Roles played
- Playing age
- Driving license
- HGV/Tractor driving license
- Colour of hair
- Origin
- Travelling
Prototype for the Search Facility
The user can type criteria for simple search or use the advanced search by selecting required criteria from the drop down menu. The search criteria can be saved in the filing cabinet by clicking on the save search button.
On clicking the search button the user is presented with results of 15 mug-shot of Actors per page, the user can make a selection to save in the filing cabinet, click on picture to see Actor’s profile or Click on the provided link at the bottom to view more results.
Clicking on any of the mug-shot pictures the user is presented with the Actor’s profile, showing picture, name of the Actor, age, gender and so on with introductory links to view more detailed information about the about the Actor including a link to a detailed CV. The user can save the Actor’s profiles in the filing cabinet and also click on the Actor’s picture to see more pictures including a full length picture and those taken in film roles.
Security
Strict security is a vital feature of the system. It will ensure confidentiality of the data and privacy for the users.
- The main focus of security is ensuring only those registered and approved users have access to log in to the system
- There are two main groups of users; these are the casting directors and the agents.
- Agents will have access to the system so they can update the actors’ profiles and make changes to the their details.
- Casting Directors will have access to the system so they can view profiles and search for actors to fill their roles.
- In addition to the above, there is a system administrator who will ensure no one other than these two groups of users (and the administrator) can access the system. He / She can also enable / disable access rights for any user if required.
- The system will operate a personal log in system based on validation of a correct username and a password combination. A valid username and password is created upon registration and is only activated once the Administrator has confirmed the persons application is acceptable.
Access rights
Access rights are of equally high concern as they define what information a specific user has access to once logged in and what the user can do with the information.
- Each agent should be able to modify only the details of the actors that he/she represents
- Each casting director should only have rights to view actor information (i.e. no edit functionality)
- Administrators will be the only users able to change access rights. The administrator will also be able to view and edit any information in the system including personal folder information
- There will be an audit log maintained by the A.T.A. which is non editable so all actions of all user are recorded.
- Both agents and casting directors will have their own personal file organizer which no other users can see. They can save any information in these files they desire
- The system, through the personal log in system, will ensure that each user can view and access all the information he is entitled to and nothing more
Personal File Organizer
The Personal file organizer is a feature of the system that will enable the users to save information that they obtain from the system (and, in fact, any other relevant information they want to) in a private section on their profile. That section will have files and folders organised in a similar way to that seen in Outlook or Hotmail.
- This function can be widely used by both of the users for storing the information they require.
- Casting directors can use this function to store information of interest, such as previous search results they found or information about which actors attened an audition / played a role in a production.
- Agents can record any information of interest to them that they might not want to share with other system users (primarily the casting directors). Examples of this might be availability information, feedback from auditions and personal notes.
- This feature is vital in defining the system’s success as it will determine whether and on what level the system will be usable.
- It is essential that the information obtained from the system by the users should be saved onto the system. This way it can be updated at any time and it ensures the users can access all the information they store from anywhere and at any time.
- Failure to communicate the importance of using the personal file organiser could result in the users going back to old ways of doing things.
Correspondence facility
Currently, agents correspond with the casting directors primarily by phone. The addition of correspondence functionality within the system will change this for the better
- This can be used for arranging auditions
- Email will allow users to correspond at any time of the day or night and have a record of what was sent. This is not limited to system users, rather anyone who has an email address
- An email account is set up when a user registers and at this point, the user is assigned an email address.
- Email will allow attachments of up to 10MB, which should be large enough to send pretty much any data they require (such as a large script). This is a fast and cost effective solution saving much money on courier / bike charges that are incurred at present
- There will be a facility to post information on a noticeboard and assign certain users access to view this.
Calendar & Audition Scheduler
Calender functionality would allow a user to view availability information about other users and would function in a similar way to outlook.
- This will allow casting directors to advertise shows / auditions
- This will allow agents to post their availability as well as that of the actors they represent
- The limitations for the agents will be reached when they can no longer keep up with the availability and other changing information about an actor that they are responsible for maintaining.
Information Storage considerations
Whilst not directly user requirements, information should be stored in such a way that queries are fast and accurate. There will be great onus placed on the development of the system to be able to perform as well as other similar systems.
- Overloading of the data to be constantly analyzed aiding the correct content to be saved.
- Avoiding data redundancy and unnecessary storage utilization of the actor’s details in the casting director’s systems for future information retrieval.
- Saving the necessary information, would be beneficial to the casting directors in order in case of retrieval, as it would require less time for the same.
- Flexibility of the system, in the modification of the data.
- Data compression and classification of the same in different categories, to avoid hindrance if any in the capacity of the storage space of the system.
- The ease, with which the information is stored from one to system to another, would also depend on the performance and the compatibility of the system.
System Download Speed
This requirement is very important as all of those who have used the internet before know that slow download can be very frustrating. As such, the download speed will be critical in determining the system’s success and all the databases used by the system should be designed to perform efficiently and retrieve data as quickly as possible.
- The limitation here on what can be done to improve the download speed since this is so highly affected by a user’s internet connection and the performance of the network at the time. For example; a user with a LAN (T1) internet connection will be able to download internet pages with quite high speed whereas someone with a dial-up connection will experience significantly slower download speed and as such will require much more time to download internet pages.
- A.T.A. should be responsible for informing all of the systems’ users of this and to ensure that they understand that if they are experiencing slow download speed it will probably be because of their internet connection and not because of any faults in the designing of the system.
Options Considered
This section details the system development options. These have been formed from the requirements described in the requirements section of this report and are tailored to meet the needs of different audiences. In addition to this summary of the options, there is a breakdown of the development schedule with costings, timings and user involvement details included in Appendix 3. The commitment of all involved parties is critical to the success of the project.
There are three systems that are considered – basic system, advanced system and full system.
Basic System
The basic system allows users to perform all their current tasks as well as providing basic search, file management and statistical information.
Advanced System
The advanced system gives users full control of their data, with advanced search functionality, file management, email (with attachments) and detailed system analytics at the push of a button.
Full system
The full system presents the users with all of the functionality of the advanced system but with the added benefits of a Calendar manager, appointments and meetings scheduler and ability to view and upload video clips.
Table 1 presents a summary of the features of each system.
Table 1. System option features summary. For more detail, see Appendix 3.
Short description of the Features (for detailed information, see the requirements section)
Template of Actor Information – Allows Agents to Input Actor Information
Data Display – Allows the actor profiles and the search results to be displayed
Basic Search – Allows Casting Directors and agents to search the database using basic criteria
Advanced Search – Allows the Casting Directors and agents to search the database using advanced criteria
Security Access – Restricts access to the system to registered users
Access control – Restricts access to information in the system to a specific user profile
Personal File Organiser – Allows users to organise their personal searches and files
Basic Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) – Allows basic functionality usage analysis
Advanced Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) – Allows advanced functionality usage analysis by system Administrator.
Email – Enables system based communication with attachments
Facility to view Video Clips – Allows users to upload and view actor video clips
Calendar – Allows users access to calendar functionality
Scheduler – Allows users access to scheduler functionality
Conclusions and Recommendations
The implementation of an internet-based searchable database of actors that is accessible to agents and casting directors will provide a solid base for the fair representation of actors in selection for both supporting and lead roles. In addition to achieving this major aim, there are benefits to the agents and casting directors in the form of efficiencies on their current working practices and centralisation of data. All three options have been carefully considered and AB Software Solutions Co. highly recommend the Advanced Systems Option.
The recommended registration fee for a casting director is £250 per user per year. From our analysis (see Appendix 2), this is a figure that should attract sufficient numbers of users to join such that the full cost of development and operation is recovered in 3 years. This is not a small feat considering it also allows for an upgrade of the system to support video clip functionality in 2006 and the appointment and retention of an Administrator. Setting the fee at £250 from the start means that enough money will be earned in the first 2 years to support the upgrade without having to seek any additional funding.
Advantages of the system include
- being centrally accessible via the intranet
- all requests for reports available via the web to authorised users
- giving users sense of self-reliance
- new features and capabilities
Efficiency, Accuracy, and Accessibility
An on-line database will provide instantaneous 24-7 availability of actor data and saved personal folder information as long as a user has an internet connection and appropriate browser. Personal log-ins gained through registration will ensure the data is only accessible to appropriate users and a strict security access hierarchy will restrict the amount of data viewable / editable once logged into the system.
A centralised and formatted data structure will eliminate redundancy of data and inaccuracy of information created by multiple or outdated versions of documents (e.g. profiles that a casting director may have saved). It will also ensure all actors are represented in the same way for easy comparison and allow data updates to occur wherever and whenever needed with changes appearing immediately.
Further to the data aspects, search facilities will dramatically speed up the process of finding appropriate actors for the roles that need to be filled and the system will allow full profiles to be viewed in an instant. This, compared with the current process of making numerous calls to the known agents, will be one of the biggest advantages the casting directors will see. After setting up / performing these searches, the ability to save the data in a personal folder system, such as that available in outlook or hotmail, will make the process even quicker. Having the personal folders available whenever a user logs on will ensure all the data is saved in the system and is accessible whenever and wherever the user needs it.
The database will also be designed to support multiple formats from plain text to picture formats such as .jpeg, .gif and the facility to upload videos will also be built.
Email is another benefit that users will find particularly useful. It will allow for general communication of details of a role, negotiation of rates and contracts as well as the speedy transfer of scripts and other supporting materials as attachments. However, this can be used at any stage to elicit information or to send information such as newsletters. Cost benefits gained through this will mean lower postage charges for both casting directors and the agents (biking fees, stamps, printing). The license fee of around £20 per license is minimal and can be included in the yearly registration fee for the casting directors.
Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) will allow the ATA to assess which parts of the system are being used as well as how frequently and AB Software solutions will provide a free-of-charge analysis service to give a qualitative interpretation of the figures. Other important statistics, such as the number of times an actors profile is viewed compared with how many times he/she is selected, can be agreed in the analysis stage and a query building tool will be included for the administrator to be able to expand this focus as and when needed.
Efficiencies - the systems efficiencies should allow agents to handle many more actors than they currently are able to. This is realised through greater ability to search the collated data and the real limits to this functionality will be found through the time taken to maintain actor profiles and schedules.
Running costs – the system will be very cost effective and require minimal running costs. However, it is important to ensure that an appropriate systems Administrator is employed. The capabilities of this employee will affect the speed of queries, the use of the data that you get from the system (KPI’s) and as such, it is important to ensure this cost is considered. A total per year of approximately £50k will need to be allocated to employ an administrator and maintain components. An analysis of the price of the yearly subscription to the site has been done and is included in Appendix 2.
User Training
The system will be built with the user in mind and with the consideration that there should be no requirement for individual personal training. All features will be as intuitive as possible and user guides will be made available on-line and in a printable format. These guides will be tested on people who have never used the system before and those who have little experience of computers to cover the widest possible range of abilities.
However, the administrator will require some training in how to check content and as such should be familiar with the theatre industry. This person will be required to attend some initial training such that he/she is able to provide telephone support for the agents in the first month when the system goes live.
Other considerations and Recommendations
Hardware and Software needs
In order to run this application effectively, we recommend a minimum requirement for the pc of all users. This is as follows:
RAM –
HardDrive –
graphics card -
PC’s with lower specification than this will likely still run the application, but there may be performance compromises and a requirement to download certain applications in order to support new types of media.
Administrator
The administrator should be familiar with the set up and maintenance of an internet server as well as have some competence in SQL query writing.
Communication
Users need to be informed of the minimum specification of their PC. The A.T.A. should send out a communication to all agents and casting directors informing them that not having the minimum requirements may result in reduced performance or in extreme cases, inability to use the site.
Agents need to be informed of the importance of the accuracy of the information. The A.T.A. should make special efforts to contact the Agents and make them aware of this as it is critical to the success of the system that this data is accurate and up to date.
Due to the nature of the system (i.e. that it is internet based), it is important that the users, both agents and casting directors, are aware of the implications this can have on speed. The responsibility falls on the A.T.A. to make sure users are aware of these issues and highlight how people can reduce the impact of the problems.
AB Software Solutions Co will advise on how to approach these points during the project.
Training
Whilst users will not require formal training and help will be available on-line, the agents will be expected to enter large quantities of data within a relatively short time period. As stated in the communication section, it is vital that they do this accurately in order for the database to be useable by the casting directors. If there is no support, they may feel uncomfortable about this level of responsibility. As a result of this, AB Software Solutions Co recommend that the administrator is made available to answer queries from the Agents.
Appendices
Appendix 1: Celeclick home page (www.celeclick.com)
Appendix 2: Return on Investment Analysis
Appendix 3: Development Schedule & System cost breakdown
Appendix 1: Celeclick home page
Appendix 2: Return on Investment (ROI) Analysis
This section contains information about a number of scenarios generated on the basis of the expected number of users and the cost of registration per user. A competitive analysis of charges and services was also performed on the spotlight website. These form the basis of the assumptions made here.
AB Software Solutions Co recommends a fee of £250 per registered Casting Director *.
* This is based on the assumption that there will be a total of 400 casting directors who register and pay an annual subscription of £250 each.
From this, it can be seen that even with the initial system development costs and those associated with the introduction of video clip functionality, the database has ‘paid for itself’ within 3 years (ROI of 4.2%).
Without considering the initial development costs, the database produces an ROI of more than 50% over the same time period.
Notes to table 2.
Assumptions:
- Yearly revenue does not increase (i.e. neither membership amount or no. of members)
- There are no general development costs in the first 3 years
- There is an upgrade to the server to support the addition of video clip functionality in year 2006 at a cost of £50k
- There is an incremental salary increase for the Administrator as well as some training costs
Analysis of membership fees
The following table displays alternative values for the yearly revenue row of the ROI table (above). These show how different situations where the number of members compared with the yearly fee affect the total revenue.
The figure used in the above calculation has been highlighted for ease of reference.
Appendix 3: Development Schedule & System cost breakdown
This section contains information about the development schedule and breaks down the costing seen in the options section.
Development Schedule (Advanced System Option)
Development costs and estimated time scales for advanced system option
* For the Basic System: Reduce this schedule by 10 days and £18k
** For the Full system: Add 10 days and £17k
*** Additional cost and time will be spread across the System Analysis to Training stages
Hardware & Software Costs
Basic Server: £50k
Advanced Server: £90k
Server Software: £7k
Software for features: £8k
Total Costs
Provisional Project Timeline