ECOM6013 Topic 4 Website Design, Testing and Maintenance

Author: pseudoyu | 610 words, 3 minutes | comments | 2020-09-16 | Category: Develop

e-commerce, ecom6013, hku

Translations: ZH

ECOM6013 E-Commerce Technologies

Topic 4 Website Design, Testing and Maintenance

Planing: The Systems Development Life Cycle

  1. Systems analysis/planing
    • Busisess objectives
    • System functionalities
    • Information requirements
  2. Systems design
  3. Building the system
  4. Testing
  5. Implementation

website_life_cycle

Quality Consideration

  • Navigation
  • Accessibility
  • Scalability
  • Reliability
  • Maintainability
  • Usability
  • Compatibility and interoperability
  • Security
  • Readability

In-House / Outsourcing (Hiring vendors to provide services)

  • Build own / outsourcing
  • Host own / outsourcing (preferred)

Implementation, Maintenance, and Optimization

Systems break down unpredictably

  • Ongoing maintenance
  • Benchmarking

Website Optimization

  • Page generation
  • Page delivery
  • Page Content

Simple vs. Multi-tier Website Architecture

System architecture: Arrangement of software, machinery, and tasks in an information system

Two-tier

  • Web server
  • Database server

two_tier_architecture

Three-tier

  • Web application servers
  • Backend, legacy databases

three_tier_architecture

Web Server Software

  • Appache
    • Leading web server software
    • works on UNIX, Linux OS
    • Reliable
    • Stable
    • Open source
  • Microsoft’s Internet Information Server (IIS)
    • Second major web server software
    • works on Windows OS
    • Integrated
    • Easy to use

Basic Functionality Provided by Web Servers

  • Processing of HTTP requests
  • Security services (Secure Sockets Layer) / Transport Layer Security
  • File transfer protocol
  • Search engine
  • Data capture
  • E-mail
  • Site management tools
    • Verify links
    • Identify files
    • Monitor customer purchases
    • Marketing campign effictiveness
    • Track hits and other statistics

Dynamic Page Generation Tools

Contents stored in database and fetched when needed

  • CGI
  • ASP
  • JSP
  • ODBC
  • JDBC

Advantages

  • Lower menu costs
  • Permits easy online market segmentation
  • Enables cost-free price discrimination
  • Enable content management system (CMS)

Application Servers

  • Provide specific business functionality required for a website
  • Isolate business applictaions from Web servers and databases (middleware)
  • Sigle-function applictaions being replaced by integrated software tools that combine all functionality needed for e-commerce site

E-Commerce Merchants Server Software

  • Provides basic functions for sales
    • Online catalog
    • Shopping cart
    • Credit card processing

Packages

  • Integrated environment that includes most of functionality needed
    • Shopping cart
    • Merchandises display
    • Order management
  • Different options for different-sized businesses
    • Small, Medium - Yahoo Small Business, open-source solutions
    • Mid-range - IBM Wbsphere Commerce Express,…
    • Hign-end - IBM WebSphere Professional/Enterprise,…
  • Cloud-based SaaS solutions
  • Key factors
    • Functionality
    • Support for different models (e.g. m-commerce)
    • Business process modeling tools
    • Visual site management and reporting
    • Performance and scalability
    • Connectivity to existing business systems
    • Compliance with standards
    • Global and multicultural capability
    • Local sales tax and shipping rules

Hardware Platform

  • Demand Side (overall customer demand)
    • Number of simultaneous users in peak periods
    • User profile
    • Type of content (dynamic/static)
    • Required security
    • Number of items in inventory
    • Number of page requests
    • Speed of legacy application
  • Supply Side
    • Scalability
      • Vertically (increase processing power of individual components)
      • Horizontally (multiple computers to share workload)
      • Improve processing architecture
      • Outsource hosting

Eight Most Important Factors in Successful E-Commerce Site Design

  • Functionality
  • Informational
  • Ease of use
  • Redundant navigation
  • Ease of purchase
  • Multi-browser functionality
  • Simple graphics
  • Legible text

Personalization Tools

  • Persinalization (personal preference, prior history)
  • Customization (better fit the needs)
  • Cookies (primary method to achieve personalization)

Policy Set

  • Privacy policy
  • Accessibility (mainly for the disabled)

Mobile Website/Applications

  • Type of m-commerce software
    • Moble website
    • Mobile web app
    • Native app
    • Hybrid app

Mobile Presence

  • Identify business objectives, system functionality, and information requirements
    • Driving sales
    • Branding
    • Building customer community
    • Advertising and promotion
    • Gathering customer feedback
  • Choices
    • Mobile first design (most efficient)
    • Mobile website (least expensive)
      • Responsive web design (RWD) - for different screen resolution
        • Automates the inclusion of content based on profiles
        • Fluid design
        • Optimized performance
        • Technically complex (implement, maintain and test)
        • Higher cost, larger database
      • Adaptive web design (AWD) - for different devices
    • Mobile web app (can utilize browser API)
    • Native app (most expensive)
      • Use device hardware (usually better performance)
      • Offline
    • Progressive Web App (PWA)
  • Platform constraints
    • Graphics
    • File size
  • Features needed to be considered
    • Hardware
    • Connectivity
    • Displays
    • Interface

Useful Resources

Build Own Websites

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pseudoyu

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pseudoyu

Backend & Smart Contract Developer, MSc Graduate in ECIC(Electronic Commerce and Internet Computing) @ The University of Hong Kong (HKU). Love to learn and build things. Follow me on GitHub


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