TABLE OF CONTENT

Chapter 1.0 Executive Summary Chapter 2.0 Product And Service Description 2.1 Service Description Chapter 3.0 Technological Description 3.1 Touch Screen 3.1.1 Resistance Touch Screen 3.1.2 Infrared Touch Screen 3.1.3 Capacitive Touch Screen 3.1.4 Surface Acoustic Wave 3.2 E-Purchase Touch Screen System 3.2.1 Stand Alone Touch Screen Kiosk 3.2.2 In Wall Touch Screen Kiosk 3.2.3 Ideal Touch Screen Combination 3.3 The Need For Usability And Interaction Chapter 4.0 Market And Competition 4.1 Market 4.2 Competition 4.3 Strategies Alliances

Chapter

5.0 Conclusions 5.1 References

CHAPTER 1

EXEUTIVE SUMMARY

Technology has improved lots of businesses today. Evidence is seen in the banking sector where a credit/debit card can be used to perform transactions from the comfort of ones home. The Airline has also experienced technological advancement in many areas, an example being online reservation of tickets. Internet commerce continues its rapid growth during the past ten years furthermore augmentation is not seems to decelerate its speed in the future. It is well known that internet is preferred by students because of the variety of the choices. Especially international students may prefer online purchase because of not knowing from where and how to get such services for their needs. This project focuses on the purchase of Top-ups from various providers with the use of the University identity card in a software development technology to be deployed on hardware (touch screen), integrated into the University data base. The project will then be integrated into the system (Web site) of the University of Limkokwing of Creative Technology. The project focus on just the University as it tries to increase its technological trends with good service and appealing features. 1.1 PROBLEM CONSIDERATION

The purchase of Top-up has been monopolized by one store (Ten-10), which has created the era of scarcity and long queue, for the fact of the attendant selling numerous items and this has brought a lot of customer based dissatisfaction. 1.2 AIM

The project aims at fast, reliable technology self-service and customer patronage and which in turn bring more capital funds for the school. CHAPTER 2 PRODUCT AND SERVICE DESCRIPTION

Develop a web application that will Have a human computer interaction interface deployed on a touch screen Store customers details electronically Increase customer patronage

Show customers funds balance in their identity card Send mails and SMS to customers Enable authentic sign in by customers Store records (sales details, customer information) electronically Produce a system documentation to enable easy use of software SERVICE DESCRIPTION

2.1

The service rendered is for both students and staff of the school using their identity card in various areas of the school environment and through the school portal. The identity cards are credited with funds. The following are the process:
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Registration of the customer info will be the first process, to authenticate the validity of the information given. Confirmation alert of successful registration will be displayed and a secret pin will be SMS to the phone number given. Top- Up options of various carrier can be selected The customer choose the amount, enters the phone number to credit. Authenticate it, by entering the identity card number and the pin given at the registration process. The value requested will be debited from the card and the that same value will be credited as top-up to the phone number.

CHAPTER 3

TECHNOLOGY DESCRIPTION

The proposed system will have an electronic storage of customer information that will enable the sending of emails and SMS to customers. 3.1 TOUCH SCREEN

A touch screen is a screen or displays that user touches for interaction. It is fascinating to think that with just a couple touches, a transaction is complete. Although, there are more than four

different types of touch screens, a consideration of four will present the advantages and disadvantages of touch screens giving a wide range of options to choose from. 3.1.1 RESISTIVE TOUCH SCREEN

This is highly durable and less sensitive to the effects of severe scratches that might incapacitate some other screens (Fast point, 2008). However, according to a study by the University of Washington (2008), they can easily get damaged by sharp objects and they offer only 75% clarity which may create additional problems with people with low vision but can be used with any input device like gloves or stylus. To reduce the cause of damage by sharp objects, users can make good use of hand gloves, stylus or the hands for maintenance and longevity purpose. Diagram of a resistive screen is shown below:

Figure 1.0 Resistive Touch screen 1 Diagram from spectra.com 3.1.2 INFRARED TOUCH SCREEN

Infrared touch screen has high clarity and very durable but also responds to false responses like dirt or flying insects (University of Washington, 2008). With such defects, even with its high durability, information might be processed wrongly giving undesired output. To prevent this, it is vital that such screens are placed in an insect-free environment and must be maintained regularly to prevent accumulation of dirt.

Figure1.1 Infrared Touch screen 1 Diagram from avionicslcd.com 3.1.3 CAPACITIVE TOUCH SCREEN

This offers clarity and is very durable but lack the use of gloved hands or stylus (University of Washington, 2008). With such defect, ones fingerprint could easily be detected which is not secure unless it is used in the force for investigation and identification.

Figure 1.2 Capacitive Touch screen 1 Diagram from gzyulian.com 3.1.4 SURFACE ACOUSTIC WAVE (SAW)

The most advanced of them all, high clarity and very durable, could be operated by human touch or stylus but more expensive than the rest (University of Washington, 2008). With this drawback, it would be difficult for the middle class to afford it and it must be used with an advanced software development tool.

Figure 1.3 Surface Acoustic wave 1 Diagram of SAW from promptcontrol.com 3.2 E-PURCHASE TOUCH SCREEN SYSTEM

There are various types of e-purchase touch screen system, but for the project two are considered. 3.2.1 STAND ALONE TOUCH SCREEN KIOSK

Figure 2.0

3.2.2

INWALL TOUCH SCREEN KIOSK

Figure 2.1 3.2.3 IDEAL TOUCH SCREEN COMBINATION

From the analysis of these touch screens, the preferred choice for this project would be the SAW and the in-wall touch screen kiosk because it is the best for the school environment, although the most expensive of them all. It has the highest quality, highly durable and can be used with both stylus and human hands. The development tool being used for this project is advanced, therefore, will fit in well with the SAW touch screen. 3.3 THE NEED FOR USABILITY AND INTERACTION

A usable and interactive system makes it easy for users to perform tasks with little or no complications. Users feel at ease using an interactive system. 3.3.1 USABILITY

It is important for users to feel comfortable with the interface if it is to achieve its aim. But just how important is a good user interface? According to Belcher, Cross (2000), it increases usability, increases the ease with which users can complete tasks because frustrated users just would not return to use a disappointing system. User interface refers to all aspects of an information system that are relevant to a user (Vliet, 2008, p.536 par.2). So, in designing a user interface, the focus should be on users, the tasks assigned and the software (Vliet, 2008 part III). It is logical therefore to make sure the system does not allow complex tasks for the users as further stressed by Vliet who implied that user specifications should be very explicit and easy to comprehend. 3.3.2 HUMAN COMPUTER INTERACTION THE NEED

HCI is an acronym for Human Computer Interaction. Systems that endeavour to meet up with the goals of HCI is always more appealing to users and the tasks performed are also very explicit and Understand the factors that determine how people use technology develop tools and techniques to enable building suitable systems achieve efficient, effective, and safe interaction put people first (Jones, 2008) relatively easier. The goals of HCI include but not limited to:

When these HCI goals are met, the system becomes easy to learn and remember, effective and efficient to use and enjoyable to use (Jones, 2008). However, there are examples of some bad HCI practices as discussed by Netlife Research Usability Specialists (2007), these bad HCI practices include: Allowing graphics to permeate the entire site thereby causing distractions and making it difficult for users to concentrate on tasks assigned. Writing error messages in developers language instead of users language makes application lack user friendliness. Color should not be used as the sole way to get a message across.

When categories are given names that are not clearly understandable and discernable, accessibility becomes a problem. Creativity should not be done for creativitys sake but should be used where appropriate.

3.3.3 USER ENVIRONMENT The system is a web application and will run from the internet delivered in a web browser. The website will be developed with the ability to run on most browsers today like Internet Explorer 8, Mozilla Firefox 3.1 and Google Chrome. This makes it easier for the system to operate in both single-user and multi-user environments.. It will be well adapted to operate on a touch screen with features such as large buttons enabling ease of use and accessibility. 3.3.4 PROGRAMME LANGUAGE

Although there are many programming languages, PHP and C# were considered for this project because of their speed, functionality and simplicity. However, ASP was chosen because of the authors prior knowledge and its in-built tools that make programming very easy like the toolbox (drag and drop) bar. Moreover, 2005 version of C# does not need an external web server to test the application but it has a custom server that is used to test the application. However, during deployment, it will need the University server available on the system which will be used for this project. 4.0 MARKET AND COMPETITION

The speed of daily life has made people busy. The list of the work must be done in a day is longer than in the past. Different researches indicate the increasing ratio of people who usually do the shopping online. 4.1 MARKET

The project market is on educational institutions, and thereafter public and private organization, this will bring easy purchase of top-up right from your home or working environment without having to work long distances, take a taxi or drive to a store before your phone can be credited. Communication is an ongoing investment and a big market to tap in, so using easy technology to

give satisfaction to the customer will be a great venture for both the organization and the communication carriers. 4.2 COMPETITION

This project supersede competitors like May bank, because of its diversity of providing wide range of customers in the later future and u do not need to have a bank account to purchase topup. The only retrain in later future is that the customer will have to be under the umbrella of an organization, before then more modalities will be check on to make it nationwide, like the use of the immigration cards etc. By using this product (E-Top Up Purchase System); will be the area of benefits over other competitor. 4.3
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Reputation Price Experience Quality Service Accessibility

STRATEGICS ALLIANCES Digi Communication Network for partnership Maxis Communication Network for partnership Celcom Communication Network for partnership TM Communication for both high speed internet and business partnership

With these relationships, the project will receive very competitive pricing on its services to customers. The project initiator will benefit, allocating a certain percentage per purchase using the system from the residing agent.

5.0

CONCLUSION

The system permits a customer to purchase top up within its organization. In the future, the software should be modified to allow centralized system for the nation as a whole. 5.1 REFRENCES

Work, H. T. (2009, March 12). How Touchscreen Work. Retrieved April 17, 2009, from How Does a Touchscreen Work?: http://www.touchscreens.com/intro-anatomy.html Methodology, S. d. (2009, January 2). Software Development Methodology. Retrieved January 6, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_development_methodology Emily retrieved April 24 2009 Critical Chain Project Management 2009 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_management#Critical_Chain_Project_Management retrieved 23 April 2009 of PaymentMax 2008 http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1218261/beauty_salon_owners_increase_revenue.html