The hardware required will be a PC, a Pentium 4 Processor - M 1.9GHz Laptop with a Nvidia GeForce 460 Go graphics card, 40GB hard disk, 512MB RAM, 15.0” TFT screen will be used as that is what the owner of Vidgame, Mr Simpson has. The PC is perfectly adequate for the creation of this website as the processor is relatively fast. I will also need an optical mouse as the touch pad on a laptop is quite difficult to use and a scanner to scan the location maps of the stores.
Data Input
Vidgame will be able to give me all the information required for this website. Screenshots and video clips of games can be obtained from the Internet. Maps of the location of the stores will also need to be scanned in, and the location of the stores marked on. The main bulk of the text that needs to be input is information on games and accessories. The text will be input by keyboard and the pictures and video clips saved from the internet will be inserted. Text will be spell checked and proof read.
Data Manipulation
Here is how I will manipulate the data to complete my objectives:
- The main sections of the website must be accessible from all the pages in the website
The buttons will be inserted and linked to the correct pages.
They will be located on every page using shared borders
- The company logo must appear on every page
The company logo will also be in a shared border at the top of the page
- The website must contain animation effects
On some pictures that have a hyperlink to another page, when they are mouse-overed, they will animate e.g. a change of picture
- The background of the pages must stay the same
There will be a theme set for all the pages in the website, this includes a background picture
- The website must include
I will produce a home page which is what the customers will see when they first visit the website, the home page will be able to be accessed from every page in the website
- Reviews and previews of games
The information on games will be input into reviews and previews. The user will give me all the information which I type in using a keyboard and format appropriately.
- Screenshots and videos clips of games
The screenshots and video clips will be inserted into some pages. The screenshots will be changed into thumbnails to reduce loading time. There will be hyperlinks to the video clips to reduce loading time also, if someone doesn’t want to view it, they just do not click on the hyperlink. If there are many screenshots of game there will be a link to slides made on Microsoft PowerPoint saved as a web page with the screenshots on.
- An hyperlink to games manufacturers website
On review pages, in the extra information section there is the game developer and publishers name which both have hyperlinks to their website. On the preview of games pages there are links next to the title. This is so that customers can find more information on games at an official website
- The ability for visitors to buy products online
In the review of a game, there will be a picture of the box of the game and the text underneath saying ‘BUY THIS GAME’, when the picture or text is clicked on the page to buy the game will be accessed. On the home page, there will also links to a few games and a button next to that which links page to buy the game. To buy accessories on that page there is a button next to the description of an accessory saying ’BUY THIS ACCESSORY’
- The ability for visitors to contact the company
There will be a form in which the customer can There will be the email address typed onto the page which when clicked on by the customer will open up their email software with the ‘writing a message’ open and addressed to Vidgame’s email
- The location and maps of the stores
Once the map is scanned in, it will be imported into PhotoDraw and I will add an arrow to it to show the exact location of the store. On the left hand side of every page there will be the name of the location of the stores and the address, when the name is clicked on, a page with the map of the location of the store and some information about it.
- Information on and a way to join the reward card program
On the right hand side of every page is some information about the reward card scheme and a picture of the reward card with an animation, when mouse-overed it swaps with a picture saying ‘JOIN NOW’ when clicked on it opens the page on which to become a member
Data Flow
Updating site information
Vidgame will need to update the information whenever it changes. The new information is then stored in the application file.
Visitors of the website accessing information
There will be hyperlinks to each page in the website. Visitors click on the hyperlinks to access the information they want. The system finds the appropriate page for the customer.
Output
The output is all screen based, it is the website that the customers visit and browse and interact with. An example of this is a web page with the review of a game. The company do not need to spend money on any additional output devices such as printers.
Backup / Security Strategy
The website must be backed up onto CD-RW whenever changes are made and once a week. A CD-RW is needed, as a floppy disk does not have enough storage space. This will insure that if for example, the hard disk is damaged, the data is still safe. One copy should be kept near the computer so that it can be used straight away if something happens to the actual file. The other copy should be kept far away in case a natural disaster or intentional damage happens.
Once the website is the password protecting the website from being edited should not be written down, the manger should remember it. The password should be changed regularly in case someone who is restricted finds out what it is. A virus checker is needed so that viruses will not harm the file.
Part Three – Design
Initial Designs
The plan for this system is for it to act like a standard Internet website, there must be links from each page to the main sections. The visitors will be the customers who are used to browsing the Internet. If the layout is like that of a typical website the visitors will be familiar to the layout of the website. The website should be user friendly so that the visitors can navigate through the website with ease. There should also be consistency; the web pages must all have the same theme and colour scheme.
The pages in the website should look attractive and interesting. The three most important factors in accomplishing this are font styles, the colour scheme and the design of the pages.
Below are some fonts that might be used
- Welcome to Vidgame.com
- Welcome to vidgame.com
- Welcome to Vidgame.com
I have also made two drafts of possible layouts and colour schemes. This will
give the user an idea on how the website will look and run. After viewing the
designs he can then decide which features the want. Then a final design
can be drawn up.
The initial designs that I have made are just a rough representation of what
The pages in my website will look like. The final design will give a much
clearer idea of what the actual website will look like.
User Feedback on Initial Designs
Mr Simpson was given the initial designs.
He decided that Font style A. was the most suitable for the website. He found Font style B. too uninteresting and Font style B. too thick.
Both the layout and colour scheme of B. were preferred. The colour scheme was thought to be bright and attractive whereas the darker colour scheme would be less appealing to the visitors.
Layout B. was chosen because the buttons at the side would be more accessible and the reward card information would appear on every page.
The user suggested that there should be a page banner in the empty space at the top of the page. He also said there should be hyperlinks to the main sections at the bottom of each page as well so that they can be accessed from anywhere on the page. The wrong button could easily be clicked on so there should be table with a border separating each of the buttons. The buttons should also be different alternating colours i.e. red, blue, red, blue. The user also advised that there should be some text in the black horizontal line near the top of the page.
Final Design
I have decided to the use the font ‘Comic Sans MS’ as the general font in my website as it is not attractive, it is not dull and it is clearly legible. I will use a minimum font size of 8; this is to ensure the vast majority of people can read it. The minimum font size does not need to be too big as the website is intended to be viewed close up on a VDU. Red will be one of the main colours of the website as it is the colour of the company logo. The background picture is going to be a blue strand so blue will be another central colour to my website. The background will be white as it is a bright colour and will is generally considered to be more attractive than for example, a dark blue or black. The font colour will be black as it is the best font colour to use on a white background and is the most commonly use font colour.
On the right hand shared border: The buttons to the main pages (Out Now, Future Releases, Accessories, Member Offers, Buy Online, Contact us, Home) will be located on the left hand side as used by many websites. This is so that they will be more accessible, if they were at the top, further down the page they will still be visible. To ensure accessibility to the main sections of the website, there will also be hyperlinks at the bottom of each page to these main sections. There will be a page banner on the top of every page so that visitors will know what page they are currently in, these will be made automatically according to the titles of the page on the navigational view on FrontPage.
Under the buttons, there will be a picture of a ‘Vidgame’ store and location of stores with hyperlinks to a page with the map and a small description of the particular store. This is to encourage people to visit the store nearest to them.
On the right hand side shared border in an invisible table (so that that part of the page can be filled red) will be reward card information with a picture of the reward card with an animation, the animations I will explain later. This is to attract the user into joining the reward card program. Under that in a separate invisible table will be information on special game offers which are only available to members, there is a hyperlink saying ‘JOIN NOW’, again to attract members.
On the top of the page
Part Four – Implement
Finished Design
I have not printed the pages directly as some parts of some pages do not have to printed to show that the website has been implemented.
Home Page
Review of a game – page 1
Preview of a game – page 1
Console selection page
Accessories page
Contact us page
Reward Card Page
Member Offers page
Buy Online page
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Test Results
The test plan in the Design section can now be implemented.
Test 1: Test hyperlink and animation on the picture of the reward card.
Test 1: Result as Expected
Test 2: Test animation when a page loads
Test 2: Result as Expected
Test 3: Test buttons that link to the main sections, at the left hand side of every page
Test 3: Result as Expected
Test 4: Test the hyperlink to the main sections, at the bottom of every page
Test 4: The incorrect page was opened one of the hyperlinks was clicked on
Test 5: Test that the company logo appears on every page
I have checked all the pages in the website and they all have the company logo on it
Test 5: Result as expected
Test 6: Test screenshots
Test 6: Result as expected
Test 7: Test e-mail link
Test 7: Result as expected
Test 8: Test video clips of games work
Test 8: Result as expected
Test 9: Test location map of stores
Test 9: Result as expected
Test 10: Test ‘Buy Online’
Test 10: Result as expected
Test 11: Test drop-down box
Test 11: Result as expected
Test 12: Test radio buttons
Test 12: Result as expected
Test 13: Test the ease of use of the system
Mr Simpson knew how to browse through the website instantly.
Test 13: Result as expected
Test 14: Test spelling and grammar on all pages
I have used a spell and grammar checker and proof-read it, there were no spelling or grammatical errors detected.
Test 14: Result as expected
Test 15: Test animation on the logo of the game consoles
Test 15: Result as expected
Error Correction
There was one test in which an error was discovered, this was test 14. In order to find the error I will have to look at the page the hyperlink is to:
Part Five – Evaluate
Evaluation of Initial Objectives
- The main sections of the website must be accessible from all the pages in the website
This objective has been fulfilled as the buttons to the main section appear on every page and there are also hyperlinks at the bottom of the page as well so the visitors can enter the main sections easily.
- The company logo must appear on every page
In the implement section, I have checked that the company logo appears on every page and the result was as expected
- The website must contain animation effects
The website does have animation effects and I have tested that they do work as intended.
- The background of the pages must stay the same
I have checked the background of all the pages and it is the same on all of them as I have set the theme for all the pages which includes the background picture.
- The website must include
My website does have a home page
- Reviews and previews of games
There reviews and previews of games
- Screenshots and videos clips of games
There are screenshots which can be seen a thumbnails and when clicked on the actual size of the image opens up
- An hyperlink to games manufacturers website
On the previews pages there is a website address to the manufacturers website
- The ability for visitors to buy products online
Visitors can by products online through a variety of ways
- The ability for visitors to contact the company
The customers can also contact the company in many ways – e-mail, phone number and form
- The location and maps of the stores
There is a map and description of the stores
- Information on and a way to join the reward card program
On the right hand side of every page is the reward card information and link to become a member
User Feedback on solution
I have received a letter, which is on the next page with the users comments and suggestions.
Further suggestions for improvements
The users’ suggestions of improvement have given me ideas of how to enhance the website.
The second suggestion can be easily achieved, instead of using FrontPage’s thumbnail producer I can insert a screenshot and make it smaller and hyperlink to a page with the full-sized image, on that page I can have a ‘back’ button. The same thing can be done with the video clips.
FrontPage, however cannot achieve the second suggestion, protection software or a different website creator might be able to do this.
12/2/03
Dear Mr Simpson,
We are generally very pleased with the Microsoft FrontPage video games website that you have designed for my company. It is a great way to advertise and directly sell our products. Nevertheless, there are some improvements that could be done to it:
- There is no password protection for the actual file of the website
- When a full sized image is opened up from a thumbnail, there is no hyperlink to return to the previous page, this applies to when the hyperlink to a video clip is clicked on as well
Apart from these small inconveniences, the website has been very useful to the advertising of the company, thank you very much for creating this website for us.
Yours Sincerely
H.J.Simpson
