Database Project

ISM3004 Database Project

This week in ISM3004 we created a Database Project.  We were given an overview of a local gym that we work for and had to create a database to store important information about the members that go to this gym.  The boss of this gym that I work for wanted a greater data management and reporting power of a DBMS.

This project caused me a lot of stress because I am one hundred percent a PC user.  Unfortunately my computer decided to stop working a couple days ago and I was forced to restart the project using my roommates Mac.  In order to start the project you must download the free 30 day trial of FileMaker Pro 11 database software.  After following step by step to download this program I then had to download the "members.csv" file from the course website.  This file contained all the data necessary to create the database project.

Step #1 was to create the Data Table.  Step #2 was to change the form.  The membership data was in the default tabular format and we were told to change it to a custom form that would make it more user-friendly.  In step #3 I created a "Find".  This allows you to automatically select only the records that meet the specified set of criteria, for example the Individual MemberType for this specific project.  The last and final step was step #4 where I created The Report.  The Report consisted of the reasons why certain gym members left and I had to create a convincing way to get the to return.

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Enhancements

The main enhancement for this database project would be to expand on whether or not the customers stay or leave and why they choose to stay with the gym, no longer go to the gym, or switch to a different gym. Something else would be to show how much time a member stayed with the gym, from the time they signed up to the time they left.  I would also look into those who left after a small amount of time and those who left after a long amount of time and compare it to the reason why they left.  This would increase customer satisfaction because we would no when and why each customer left and what their future plan is, whether they plan to continue going to the gym, choose another gym or no longer be a member of any gym.

Tutorial Blog 3: Information System Devlopment

System Development

System is a set of components that interact to achieve a common goal.  An information system is a collection of hardware, software, data, people and procedures that work together to produce quality information.  An information system supports daily, short and long term activities.  System development is a set of activities used to build an information system.

System Development life cycle

The System Development Life Cycle consists of planning, analysis, design, implementation and operation, support and security.  Planning is to review and prioritize project requests as well as to form teams.  Conducting investigation and perform detailed analysis of activities is part of analysis.  Design requires you to acquire hardware and software and to also develop details of the system.  Implementation is clearly an important part of the life cycle and is when you develop the programs, install and test the program, train the users to use the program and convert to the new system.  There are different ways to converting to the new system such as diving right into it or doing it gradually and piece by piece.  Monitoring system performance and assessing system security is part of the last part of the system development life cycle.  

There are many different participants involved in system development.  A system analyst is responsible for designing and developing an information system.  The steering committee is the decision making body and vendors install and maintain the operating system software as well as deal with technical support.  Application and system programmers convert the system design into the appropriate programming language.  The organizations website and web application are created and maintained by the webmaster and web developers.  The organization's resources are controlled by the database administrators and the network administrators install and maintain the network.

Project management is the process of planning, scheduling and controlling activities during system development.  They create a goal which is to deliver an acceptable system to the user in an agreed time frame while maintaining costs.

Feasibility Assessment measures how suitable the development of a system will be to the organization.  There are many different types of feasibility assessments including: operation, schedule, technical and economic.  Operational feasibility measures how well the proposed information system will work.  Schedule feasibility measures whether the established deadlines for the project are reasonable.  Determining whether the organization has or can obtain the hardware, software and people need to deliver them is technical feasibility and economic feasibility, also called cost/benefit is whether the lifetime benefits of the proposed information system will be greater that its lifetime costs. 

Created by Shannon DuQuesnay, Copyright 2011

Presentations Project Web 2.0

This week in ISM3004 we had to finish the assignment we started a couple weeks ago.  I chose coming up with an entrepreneurial idea and then presented it using author stream.  My idea was taking a fast food restaurant such as McDonalds and turning it into a healthier version of fast food while keeping a similar taste.  For the most part, people can't taste the difference between whole wheat and white, fat or low far, sodium or reduced sodium, so why eat all this unhealthy food and clog your arteries when u could eat the same food thats alittle healthier?

About Skinny Joint:

The burgers would have whole wheat bread and we would serve veggie and lean burgers.  Fried chicken would be fried in whole grain flour using very little oil and grease.  Cheese and milk would be fat free and salads would be made with fat free dressing.  Fries are one of the most popular foods from fast food places.  Sweet potato fries taste even better and have more nutritional value and instead of being fried in oil they would be baked. Sandwiches would be made with turkey sausage and bacon and we would use egg whites instead of whole eggs.

All of this food would have the same delicious taste of fast food without the unnecessary fat and calories.  People who love fast food but also care about their health will love "Skinny Joint".  Your fingers won't be covered in grease after taking a bite out of your burger however you will still have that satisfying feeling in your mouth and stomach after finishing it and be able to eat more throughout the day without going over your daily amount of calories and fat.  Multiple items on the menu of McDonalds are more than the amount of something allowed each day.  

Here is my presentation on a restaurant I created called "Skinny Joint"

Presentation!

What I Learned:

I tried to make talking about nutrition as exciting as possible by incorporating a very humorous movie which clearly emphasizes the importance of  eating healthy.  I didn't want to go on with to many nutrition facts so I chose the ones I believe are important and gave examples of two of McDonalds worst items on their menu and related it to how much fat you're supposed to consume in one day and how much is in one McDonalds meal.  I also tried to interest everyone within the first few seconds by posing an idea that most people dream of.