epos prototype

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Electronic point of sale (EPOS) prototype system

In

Nigeria.

Abstract

The purpose of this project is to design an Electronic point of sale system (EPOS)

prototype in telecommunication industry. The system have to be able to access

customer’s details, calculate item sold and easy access to inventory database

system designed with Microsoft visual basic and Microsoft access database.



The advanced function of the programme is the ability to help users to carry out

different task such as improving pricing accuracy, time saving, easy transaction on

sales point and inventory look up. The developed prototype was evaluated by the

user testing and was proven to be of satisfactory level in terms of usability and

functionality. Further improvements and additions to the programme are also

considered at the end of the project.

CONTENTS

1.0 Introduction ............................................................................... 1

1.1 Aim of electronic point of sale (EPOS) system in Nigeria ........................ 10

1.2 Objectives of Electronic point of sale (EPOS) system ............................ 10

1.3 Hypothesis ............................................................................... 102.0 Literature Review ....................................................................... 11



2.1 Electrical Power Outage in Nigeria .................................................. 11

2.2 Business perspective ................................................................... 15

3.0 Methodology and Design ............................................................... 18

3.1 Project planning ........................................................................ 18

3.2 Interview ................................................................................ 20

3.3 Questionnaire ........................................................................... 20

3.4 Design methodology ................................................................... 21

3.5 Design Methodology in Technology .................................................. 21

3.6 Structured Systems Analysis and Design Method (SSADM) ....................... 22

3.7 Objectives of SSADM ................................................................... 23

3.8 Benefits of SSADM ...................................................................... 23

3.9 System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) ............................................ 23

3.10 Waterfall Model ....................................................................... 24

3.11 Benefits of Waterfall Life Cycle Model ............................................ 25

3.12 System Design ......................................................................... 26

3.13 System requirements ................................................................. 26

3.14 Context Diagram ...................................................................... 29

3.15 Interface design ....................................................................... 29

3.16 Paper Prototyping .................................................................... 29

3.17 Software Prototyping ................................................................ 29

3.18 Benefits of Prototyping .............................................................. 30

4.0 Specification ............................................................................. 31

4.1 Human computer interaction (HCI) ................................................. 32

5.0 Implementation of the system ........................................................ 32

5.1 Programming language ................................................................ 32

5.2 Advantages offered by Visual Basic ................................................. 33

5.3 MICROSOFT ACCESS DATABASE ....................................................... 33

5.4 Design Implementation ................................................................ 34

5.5 Connection from visual basic to access database ................................. 37

5.6 Implementation on Access Data Source ............................................ 37

5.7 Issues arising implementation ........................................................ 46

5.8 Software and system Testing ......................................................... 47

6.0 Results ..................................................................................... 48



6.1 Test case result ........................................................................ 48

6.2 Interview and Questionnaire Result ................................................. 49

7.0 Evaluation and Conclusions ........................................................... 50

7.1 Conclusion ............................................................................... 51

8.0 Recommendations ....................................................................... 52

9.0 Reference

10.0 Bibliography

Appendices

Appendix A- Relationship Diagram

Appendix B-Gantt Chart

Appendix C- Client Interview

Appendix D - Analysing Feedback from Survey Monkey Questionnaire

Appendix E- Paper prototyping

Appendix F- Test plan

Appendix G- Design Screen shot

Appendix H-Specification

List of Figures

Figure 1: Installation of a power transformer..............................................5

Figure 2: Inefficient power supply in Nigeria...............................................8

Figure 3: Waterfall model diagram.........................................................16

Figure 4: EPOS use case diagram............................................................19

Figure 5: Overview of the entire prototype system......................................20



Figure 6: GUI prototyping inputs and outputs............................................22

Figure 7: Login screen........................................................................26

Figure 8: Identifying username field and password field................................27

Figure 9: username and password table...................................................28

Figure 10: Data source configuration wizard..............................................29

Figure 11: Choosing data connection.......................................................30

Figure 12: Choosing database...............................................................30

Figure 13: Correct username and password...............................................31

Figure 14: Main menu.........................................................................31

Figure 15: Login failed........................................................................32

Figure 16: Main menu description..........................................................33

Figure 17: Product description search form...............................................34

Figure 18: Relationship between tables...................................................35

Figure 19: Product table.....................................................................36

Figure 20: Product inventory form..........................................................37

Figure 21: Username and password dataset...............................................38

Figure 22: tables in dataset generated with visual basic...............................38

Figure 23: Sales form.........................................................................39

Figure 24: successful result of sales and item sold after testing......................41

List of tables

Table 1: Test case product search form, login form and stock inventory form.....42



Acronyms

Application programming interface (API)

Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM)

Electronic point of sale (EPOS)

Functional Design Specification (FDS)



Functional specifications (functional specs)

Goods and Services Tax (Gst)

Graphical User Interface (GUI)

Graphical user interface (GUI)

Human computer interaction (HCI)

Information technology (IT)

International business machines (IBM)

Joint application development (JAD)

Local area network (LAN)

National Electric Power Authority (NEPA)

Personal computer (PC)

Point of sale systems (POS)

Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN)

Provincial Sales Tax (Pst)

Rapid application development (RAD)

Relational database management system (RDBMS)

Software design specification (SDS)

Structured Query Language (SQL)

Structured Systems Analysis and Design Method (SSADM)

System Development Life Cycle (SDLC)

Universal Product Code (UPC)

Visual Basic script (VB scripts)



1.0 Introduction

In the society today, Information technology (IT) has changed the way people live

and business operations in various environments. There have been a massive

improvement of information technology in early 1990s in computer hardware and



software IT has provide communication of network that helps to facilitates the

expansion of products, ideas and majorly resources among the nation

(Globalenvision, 2009).

Electronic point of sale (EPOS) software developed today enables business owners

as well as companies a suitable way of checking out customers and of recording

sales. It enables secure to store record of the store inventory in the database

system, as well as updating data when an order is processed. It also enables user

to print out receipts of a particular purchased item, it can carry out different

types of transaction on till either with a credit card, cash or paying a gift card or

voucher. In most cases it can be used to track customers, etc.

POS is an abbreviation for point of sale (or point-of-sale, or point of service). The

point of sale sometimes refers to the electronic cash register system. Point of sale

systems (POS) can be used in some hotels, stadiums, restaurants, casinos, as well

as retail environments (Cunninghams, 2008).

An Electronic point of sale (EPOS) software also allows users to input via keyboard

or mouse, and some of it could be designed to a touch screen interface (Buzzle

2010).Some year ago, in August 1973 the International business machinescorporation (IBM) announced the IBM 3650 and 3660 store systems, in 1973 new

registers that were driven by computers were introduced, such as the IBM 3653

Store System and the NCR 2150 that were, in essence, a mainframe computer

packaged as a store controller that could control 128 IBM 3653/3663 Point of Sale

Registers. This system was the first commercial use of client-server technology,

peer to peer communications, and local area network (LAN) simultaneous backup

and remote initialization. Other computer-based manufacturers were Regitel,TRW, and Data checker also in same year 1973 IBM brought the introduction of the

Universal Product Code (UPC) barcode readers to the point of sale systems.

Thereby in mid -1974, IBM 3653 Store System was installed in Pathmark Stores in

New Jersey and Dillards Department Stores. Programmability allowed retailers to

be more creative (Almyta systems 2010).

Furthermore, in 1987, the Point of sale (POS) systems became mostly based on

personal computer (PC) technology with the introduction of the IBM 4683. The



system consisted of a PC-based controller and thin client based POS workstations.

The system required an IBM AS/400 server to be in the network. The 4683 is still

used today by some retailers. However, the 4683 has been phased out by some

retailers to its more modern successor, the IBM 4693 and the IBM 4694(Almyta

systems 2010).

This project is mainly focussing on one major sector, which is the communication

industry. How this technology can be helpful and enables users to satisfy their

customers by eliminating errors at the point of sale and reducing the paperwork

involved in sales and inventory.

1.1 Aim of electronic point of sale (EPOS) system in Nigeria

The purpose of this project is to design an Electronic point of sale (EPOS) system

prototype is to introduce an Electronic point of sale (EPOS) system in Nigeria,

which will improve pricing accuracy by eliminating errors and as well as time

saving in dealing with customers.

1.2 Objectives of Electronic point of sale (EPOS) system

To develop a prototyping Electronic point of sale (EPOS) system, for

communication industry in Nigeria.

To improve price accuracy.

To improve customer service.

To Produce an accurate record sales.

To test a software prototype system.

1.3 Hypothesis

H1. The project will be useful for management.

H2. There is inefficient power supply in Nigeria.

H3. Power supply could be affordably using modern renewable energy technology

in Nigeria.



In this project there is a need for relationship between the primary data,

objectives, hypothesis, literature and the prototype system, a relationship table

was created in order to show how the prototype system is connected to other task

in this project (See Appendix A).

2.0 Literature Review

This chapter introduces basic concepts and topics related to the Power outage in

Nigeria, Basic issues will be discussed such as how to eradicate power outage in

Nigeria and the cost of power outages to business sector of the Nigerian economy

in order for communication industries to carry out normal operations without

power outage. One strong outcome of the study is that the poor state of electricity

supply in Nigeria has imposed significant costs on the business sector.

2.1 Electrical Power Outage in Nigeria

Generally, a power outage can be identified as a power cut, power failure or

blackout. This can be addressed as loss of electricity power to a specific area.

Nevertheless, there are different causes of power failure in electricity which can

easily cause damages to human and business operations.

It is fairly settled in the literature that infrastructure plays a critical and positive

role in economic development. Infrastructure interacts with the economy through

multiple and complex processes. It represents an intermediate input to production,

and thus changes in infrastructure quality and quantity affect the profitability of

production, and invariably the levels of income, output and employment.

Moreover, infrastructure services raise the productivity of other factors of

production (Kessides, 1993).

Currently in Nigeria, lack of electricity supply is one of major infrastructure

problem affecting the business sector. The typical Nigerian firm experiences power

failure or voltage fluctuations about seven times per week, each lasting for about

two hours, without the benefit of prior warning which may likely cause damages

such as spoiled materials, lost output, damaged electronic equipment, restarting

cost operations and distraction of business operations(Adenikinju, 2005, p.3).

In Nigeria, the National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) now Power HoldingCompany of Nigeria (PHCN) is responsible for power supply in Nigeria. However,



the failure of NEPA to provide adequate and reliable electricity to consumers

despite billions of Naira of investment expenditure has generated a confidence

crisis in the industry. Public confidence in NEPA’s ability to supply uninterrupted

and stable electric power is so low that consumers have coined a term for the

organization’s acronym NEPA as “Never Expect Power Always”.

The inefficiency of NEPA imposes a huge cost on the economy. In 1990, the World

Bank estimated the economic loss to the country from NEPA’s inefficiency, at

about N1 billion Nigeria Naira (Adenikinju 2005, p.3).

Power failure in Nigeria is a debilitating problem that needs be addressed. The

envisioned growth of the economy cannot be achieved without improved

electricity supplies, and there are crippling multiplier effects associated with

thousands of small businesses throughout the country not having access to

uninterrupted power supply to run their flour mills, printing presses, restaurants,

cyber cafes and clinics. Putting any one of these businesses out of work at any

given point in time, due to power failure, has a direct impact on the growth and

expansion of the business, which in turn feeds unemployment, keeps wages low

and negatively impacts workers’ ability to provide financial support to their

families. No nation can achieve economic development and industrialization

without adequate and regular power supply. Nigeria has what it takes and this

government must raise to its responsibilities, as very clearly echoed in a statement

by the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton (Nasirschronicles, 2009)



Figure 1: installation of a power transformer (courtesy 234next image)

In Nigeria the story is the same everywhere, whereby those who can afford to rely

on generator sets to keep businesses and establishments running in the West

African country.

Power failure under PHCN is more than what it used to be under NEPA. Now it is

total darkness. This is affecting everybody's business (Ipsnews, 2005).

Magnus Abbe states that trying to get around the acute power shortage, some

state governments have resorted to establishing Independent Power Production

(IPP) companies to boost electricity production. The Lagos State government in

1999 set up an IPP project that is presently producing 40 MW. Between 1999 and

2000, the Rivers State government in the Niger Delta region started the Omoku

Power Station as part of the IPP Gas to Power project of the state.

The project which uses gas from the nearby AGIP oil well (where gas is still being

flared) is expected to generate 400 MW. When completed, it is expected to satisfy

the power drought in the entire state. (Ipsnews, 2005).

According to the former President of Nigeria Olusegun Obasanjo states that the

plants are part of the government's strategy to raise the country's electricity

generation capacity from the current low of 3,400 MW to 10,000 MW by 2007.

Nigeria's hydro and thermal power generating stations have an installed capacity of

5,237.6 MW, but due to lack of maintenance and corruption, twin ills of most

public service utilities, which are operating below the installed capacity.



The private sector has a pivotal role to play in meeting the power requirement for

the development of the country. A suitable framework is required to be put in

place to facilitate the private sector involvement in this highly capital intensive

power and gas sector (Ipsnews, 2005).According to a new power generation expansion plan programme released early

this month and made available to IPS, electricity generation by PHCN is projected

to hit 15,853 MW by 2010. PHCN, according to the document, plans to achieve the

new generation output by building up its capacity steadily over the next five years,

through the total resuscitation of all existing power stations, and contributions

from Independent Power Producers (IPPs).

Nigerians hope to achieve this based on a strong conviction that all power plants

are currently undergoing repairs and will be brought on stream by 2010. Nigerian

are also very confident that by end of the 2010, the IPPs, ongoing Federal

Government power projects, the proposed Niger Delta power stations and the

proposed Joint Venture Independent Power Projects (JVIPPs) with oil and gas firms

and other IPPs will come on stream.

Some existing power stations in Nigeria are expected to carry out installation in

some states which are: Egbin Thermal Station, Lagos (1,320 MW); Afam Thermal,

Rivers State (969 MW); Sapele Thermal, Delta State (1,020 MW); Ijora Thermal

plant, Lagos (40 MW); Kainji Hydro Station, Niger State (760 MW); Jebba Hydro

Station, Niger State (578.4 MW) and Shiroro Hydro, Niger State (600 MW).

According to the projections, IPPs are expected to contribute 750 MW by 2010while the proposed JVIPPs and other IPPs are expected to generate 2,790 MW and

1,365 MW respectively into the national grid. Before the end of 2010, officials are

optimistic of changing forever the bleak electricity situation in Nigeria (Ipsnews,

2005).

Furthermore, without adequate power supply Nigeria cannot achieve its potential

to help put things in comparative perspective, Nigeria’s power demand is

estimated at about 15,000 MW as at September 2009, peak generation supplied by

PHCN was 2,443 MW – less than 17% of the electricity needed, All the claims of

generating “over 5,000MW” recently by the administration’s officials are of course

the usual slogans, and a false one at that! By way of comparison South Africa has

40,000 MW of electricity for a population of 50 million people; Brazil has 100,000

MW for a population of 192 million people; the US has 700,000 MW for a population

of 308 million people; while Nigeria with a population of over 150 million people

only generates 2,443 MW at peak! (Nasirschronicles, 2009)



Currently in Nigeria, government regulations in the supply and trading of

infrastructural services prevent the possibilities of three other mechanisms: joint

production, satellite behaviour or shared production. The unreliability of NEPA has

led most manufacturers to incur extra costs for private alternatives. The generator

market is very vibrant. Most small gas-powered electric generating sets in use are

Japanese products (e.g., Honda, Suzuki, and Yamaha). Most of these products are

imported from Japan, while some are assembled in Nigeria by Holt Engineering

Limited, which the company is specialised in assembling Yamaha generators.

Moreover, many small-scale industrialists now prefer locally fabricated generating

sets, which are considerably cheaper than the imported brand names (Adenikinju

2005, p.20).

According to the World Bank, South Africa generates 40,000 MW of electricity for a

population of nearly 50 million, while Nigeria with a population of over 150 million

only generates 3,400 MW at peak. This translates to very disappointing levels of

electricity consumption per capita, thereby leaving some industries to perform at

epileptic levels, goods and services to be sold at prices that automatically adjust,

during power outages, to account for the expensive cost of production via

generating sets and a populace that is unable to take advantage of the latest

advances in technology and appliances. All this puts a painful strain on the already

difficult situation of Nigerian citizens who must in addition to be paying higher

prices for goods and services, also invest hard earned Naira to buy, maintain and

fuel power generating sets for the their homes (Nasir El-Rufai 2010)

2.2 Business perspective

There are some huge businesses in Nigeria that find it difficult to carry out dailyoperations, A business cannot be successful if there is power interruption, every

business organisation want to be successful in business, but on the other hand it is

a shame to Nigerian government for not providing the right infrastructural facilities

for the society. In general, there are arguments to proffer for massive investments

on the power supply in Nigeria that for purposes of effective communication of the

depths of sufferings and hardships faced by the people, this section will highlight a

few points (PMWorldToday 2010) these include the following:



The Impact on large companies: Currently in Nigeria some manufacturers

associations and other professional bodies have finding it very difficult to cope

with the inadequate power supply in the society, some companies spend large

resources every year to provide large generators as an alternatives to the poor

electricity supply. With the use of a stand by generator business organisation can

only carry out daily activities. Generators are design to support electricity failure

for some duration, Due to inadequate power supply, some companies does not rely

on “NEPA” the best means is to install a power stand by generator that can provide

electricity supply without interruption.

Figure 2: Inefficient power supply in Nigeria (courtesy 234next image)

Chima Okereke, states that many factories have had to shut down over the lack of

power supply, it is alleged that over 100 companies including multi-nationals

across the country have closed down in recent times. Textile/garment,

chemical/leather are some of the affected sectors. Others such as those in the

cement industry are unable to operate at full capacity. Both situations result in

loss of jobs and increase in levels of unemployed.

Suggestions and how to eradicate power outage in Nigeria

This part critically analyses the solution to the power outage in Nigeria for business

organisation and the society to achieve stable power supply.



Over the years, Nigerians has been lacking electrical power supply which causes

huge damage to the society and business organisation presently. Some suggestions

have been made over the years but due to the corruption in Nigeria government

the motion has not been moved on. Nevertheless, there are positive means of

solving this problem in Nigeria.

According to the Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Nigeria, Khosrow

Rezazadeh, which have made a suggestion on how Nigeria would solve the problem

of inadequate power supply, “Rezazadeh” quotes that a nuclear power plant was

needed so as to enable Nigeria put an end to its epileptic power supply, also stated

that Iran has only 3.5 percent of nuclear enrichment and it has become necessary

to increase it in order to meet up with medical and industrial purposes (Allafrica

2010).

Inadequate power supply is not easy to resolve but one of the means to resolve this

issue is by carrying out different observation by people and also comparing other

countries that had similar issue. Furthermore, Professor Tukur Saad who is the vice

chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Minna, states Nigeria must

embark upon an extensive nuclear power generation project if it must overcome

the problem of erratic power supply, because the world is moving towards nuclear

power generation and it is the most reliable way of providing stable electricity

supply (Allafrica, 2007).

In conclusion, over the years, all efforts at resolving Nigeria’s power problems

have met with spectacular failure. Huge amounts spent on the sector seem to go

down some bottomless drain as poor electric power generation and supply remain

the bane of the manufacturing sector and a drain on resources, many companies,

unable to cope with the high cost of doing business in Nigeria, which lead to have

relocated to neighbouring nations, while others have simply shut down, driving

more people into the labour market. Presently, no one has yet quantified the

damage to health and to the environment by the millions of generators that

threaten to overwhelm the country with noise and fumes.



It’s mostly about corruption. The failure of Nigeria to generate enough power to

meet even the modest target of 6000 megawatts that the government has set for

itself by December this year is largely due to corruption. However, apart from

fraud and corruption in the country, there is the absence of a creative way of

solving Nigeria electricity power failure; one solution would require the

exploitation of massive deposit of coal in Nigeria, This has succeeded in solving the

power problems in many countries at what amounts to a cheaper rate, at least in

the long run. Nigeria has a coal reserve of some 2.7 million tonnes, which is

expected to supply between 10,000-15000 megawatts of electricity. This rich

resource has been largely ignored by government’s overtime. In the same manner,

uranium deposits, confirmed in six states of the federation and used by more

advanced countries to produce electricity, have not been exploited by the Nigerian

government (234next 2009)

Finally, the issue of Nigeria inadequate power supply could be controlled by the

government and not private sectors, on the other hand if the government carry out

some of these suggestion it would be a great benefit to Nigerians.

3.0 Methodology and DesignThis section of the project refers to the set of methods and development used for

the system, project planning, interview, questionnaire, analyzing different types

of design methodology that could be used to develop the required system and the

key to design methodology and the best solution for each design.

3.1 Project planning

Planning a project is very important; it is the key to a successful project. Creating

a project plan is the first thing to think about when undertaking any kind of

project. In most situations some fail to realise the value of a project plan in saving

time, money and some problems.

Carrying out Planning at some level is basic to all human activity, and is really

applied with a common sense. This involves working out the task required and

how to work on it. Furthermore, Planning involves identifying priority needs and

opportunities, discussing and testing the various possible courses of action,choosing the most appropriate one, agreeing on what to achieve, calculating the



human and material resources needed to reach the objectives, anticipating

possible problems and getting agreement among all concerned about clear targets

and timetables for the project in view (See Appendix) which illustrates the project

planning with the use of a Gantt chart. There are many tools that could be used to

assist planning a project (Ifrc), these include:

Project planning checklists

Project work plans

Gantt (bar) charts

Logical Framework Analyses

Budgets

A Gantt chart was used in planning this project because it enables planning and

Scheduling Complex Projects; it is a useful tool for analyzing and plans a project. It

provides help to plan out the tasks that is needed to be completed, Give a basis for

scheduling when the tasks will be carried out, provide help and guideline on how

to plan the allocation of resources needed to complete the project, and it helps to

work out the critical path for a project indicating when the project would be

completed by a particular date (Mindtools 2010).

Furthermore, Gantt Charts helps to monitor if the project is on schedule. In a

situation whereby the project is not on schedule, it enables pinpoint to the

remedial action necessary to put it back on schedule (See Appendix B)



3.2 Interview

Interview is one of the methods which were used in this project. It is important

because, it is used for collection of information’s from client. It acts as a guideline

which provides idea on what user needs (user requirement). In general, interviews

were conducted in other to obtain the users requirement and experience using an

Electronic point of sale (EPOS) system.

Different type of tools could be used for conducting an interview, such could be

one on one, using online messenger e.t.c, and the tools used for interviewing of

client in this project is by the means of Skype Software. The Skype software is

reliable software which enables the world’s conversation, also it can be use to

make free video and voice calls, send instant messages and share files with other

users, It can also be use to make calls to landlines and mobiles (Skype 2010). (See

Appendix C).

3.3 Questionnaire

When planning a project it is necessary to acquire the right information which

would provide idea to make decisions. If the information is accurate, there would

be a high probability of making a good decision. But if the information is

inaccurate, the ability to make a correct decision is diminished. Reliable

information usually leads to better decisions (Walonick 2004, p.1).

It is necessary to design questionnaires because it is easy to analyze. Also data

entry and tabulation for well composed surveys can be easily done with some

computer software packages.This projects demand the collection of primary data from individuals, the aim of

designing a questionnaire is to get different views of people and responses which

could be usable for making decisions.

Designing a questionnaire is one of the best ways of gathering information. The

questionnaires in this project are designed with Survey Monkey tool. Survey

Monkey is a tool that helps in designing questionnaire and also can be customise by

users. It is very easy to use and very effective (c4lpt 2010). However, SurveyMonkey gives thousands of people feedback and also helps to analyse the feedback



received by people While Smart Survey is another survey tool but the only

difference is the user interface, the user interface is poor compare to Survey

Monkey. According to Nigel Paine it is one of the top 10 tools in 2008 (c4lpt 2008)

Survey Monkey is more interactive and it is recommended by clients. (See

Appendix D)

3.4 Design methodology

There are two main categories of design methodologies that could act as a

guideline when designing a system, which is the systematic and the formal types.

The systematic type is less mathematical and this consists of the procedural

component, which prescribes what action or task to perform and the

representation component, which prescribes how the software structure should be

represented.

The formal type makes extensive use of mathematical notations for the object

transformations and for checking consistencies.

The difference between both categories of design methodologies is that one is

base on mathematical aspect and the other is based on procedural component and

task.

Generally, techniques from the systematic design methodologies can be integrated

and can utilize representation schemes from other techniques when and as

appropriate. However, the underlying principles of the methodologies can be

analyzed and examined for a better understanding of the basis for each

methodology. With a better understanding of the methodology, its domain of

application can be more effectively applied or more accurately defined. Basically,

alternative design allows for important trade-off analysis before coding the

software (Userpages, nd).

3.5 Design Methodology in Technology

Design methodology is employed in various organization and industries in most

sectors it is commonly applied in technology, including those using the Internet,

software and information systems development. Different types of Design

Methodology approaches have been developed in the technology industry. Some of



the design methodology was a reaction to a different type of problem. These are

some of the common technology design methodologies:

Top down Design: The top down design methodology always starts from the

end solution and it works backwards, refining each step along the way.

Bottom up Design: The bottom up design Methodology majorly starts with a

foundation and works up towards a solution.

Structured Design: The structured design is always refer to as an industry

standard. It technique starts by identifying various inputs and desired major

outputs to create a graphical representation.

Structured Analysis and Design Technique: The structured analysis and

design technique approach is very useful in technology industry it helps to

utilize a system diagram and describe the hierarchy of a system's functions

in depth.

Data Structured Systems Development: The data structure approach

identifies the system structure in design methodology.

Object Oriented Design: object oriented design is also very useful in system

design; the methodology is based on a system of interacting objects.

3.6 Structured Systems Analysis and Design Method (SSADM)

Structured Systems Analysis and Design Methodology (SSADM) is a systems approach

to the analysis and design of information systems. SSADM was produced for the

CCTA, a UK government office concerned with the use of technology in

government, from 1980 onwards (Selectbs, 2010)

System design methods are discipline within the software development industry

which seeks to provide a framework for activity and the capture, storage,

transformation and dissemination of information so as to enable the economic

development of computer systems that are fit for purpose.



3.7 Objectives of SSADM

SSADM was developed with the following objectives

Ensure that projects can successfully continue should a loss of staff occur

without a damaging effect on the project.

Develop overall better quality systems

Improve the way in which projects are controlled and managed

Allow more effective use of experienced and inexperienced staff and their

development

Make it possible for projects to be supported by computer based tools e.g.

computer-aided software engineering systems

Improve communication between participants in a project so an effective

framework is in place

3.8 Benefits of SSADM

Timelines: Theoretically, SSADM allows one to plan, manage and control a project

well. These points are essential to deliver the product on time.

Usability: Within SSADM special emphasis is put on the analysis of user needs.

Simultaneously, the systems model is developed and a comprehensive demand

analysis is been carried out.

SSADM is a waterfall method by which an IS design can be arrived at; SSADM can be

thought to represent a pinnacle of the rigorous document-led approach to system

design, and contrasts with more contemporary Rapid Application Development

methods such as Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM).

3.9 System Development Life Cycle (SDLC)System Development Life Cycle is actually a the process of understanding how an

information system (IS) can support business needs, designing the system, building

it and how it would be delivered to the users (Dennis and Wixom 2003).

Different kind of SDLC methodologies have been developed to guide the processes

involved including the waterfall model (the original SDLC method), rapid

application development (RAD) and joint application development (JAD).



3.10 Waterfall Model

Waterfall approach was first Process Model to be introduced and followed widely in

Software Engineering to ensure success of the project.

In "The Waterfall" approach, the whole process of software development is divided

into separate process phases. The phases in Waterfall model are: Requirement

Specifications phase, Software Design, Implementation and Testing & Maintenance.

The stages of "The Waterfall Model" are:

Figure 3: Waterfall Model Diagram (courtesy buzzle image)

Requirement Analysis & Definition: All possible requirements of the system to be

developed are captured in this phase. Requirements are set of functionalities and

constraints that the end-user (who will be using the system) expects from the

system. The requirements are gathered from the end-user by consultation, these

requirements are analyzed for their validity and the possibility of incorporating the

requirements in the system to be development is also studied. Finally, a

Requirement Specification document was created which serves the purpose of

guideline for the next phase of the model.



System and Software Design: Before a starting for actual coding, it is highly

important to understand what we are going to create and what it should look like?

The requirement specifications from first phase are studied in this phase and

system design is prepared. System Design helps in specifying hardware and system

requirements and also helps in defining overall system architecture. The system

design specifications serve as input for the next phase of the model.

Implementation and Unit Testing: On receiving system design documents, the work

is divided in modules/units and actual coding is started. The system is first

developed in small programs called units, which are integrated in the next phase.

Each unit is developed and tested for its functionality; this is referred to as Unit

Testing. Unit testing mainly verifies if the modules/units meet their specifications.

Integration and System Testing: As specified above, the system is first divided in

units which are developed and tested for their functionalities. These units are

integrated into a complete system during Integration phase and tested to check if

all modules/units coordinate between each other and the system as a whole

behaves as per the specifications. After successfully testing the software, it is

delivered to the customer.

Operations and Maintenance: This phase of "The Waterfall Model" is virtually never

ending phase (Very long). Generally, problems with the system developed (which

are not found during the development life cycle) come up after its practical use

starts, so the issues related to the system are solved after deployment of the

system. Not all the problems come in picture directly but it arises from time to

time and needs to be solved; hence this process is referred as Maintenance.

3.11 Benefits of Waterfall Life Cycle Model

It is easy to explain to the user

The Stages and activities involved are well defined

It helps to plan and schedule the project appropriately

It enables verification at each stage to ensure early detection of errors and

misunderstanding within the project.



3.12 System Design

This chapter describes the process of system designing, tools and techniques that

were used, building the template of the user interface, various prototypes that

were used in the system design and the benefit of using software prototyping, also

the chapter analyses the use and importance of Graphical User Interface (GUI).

3.13 System requirements

The outcome of this project is design an Electronic Point of Sale (EPOS) system

prototype which should comply to set of requirements. (Sommerville, 2007)

distinguishes between user and system requirements which could be also divided

into functional, non-functional and domain ones. The system design development

starts from system requirements which describe system behaviour (Sommerville,

2007). It is necessary to consider the user requirements while designing a system

because it helps to specify the design of programme interface. High level user

requirements are merely intended to provide a guide to the major issues and which

also support simple narrative explanations of system purposes. High level

functional requirements capture the intended behaviour of the system. This

behaviour may be expressed as services, tasks or functions the system is required

to perform and advanced features the system should have. Throughout the design

stage some high level requirements were detailed and presented by use case

diagram demonstrated on Figure 3.1

A use case diagram shows the behaviour or functionality of the system, it consists

of a set of possible sequences of interactions between a system and a user in a

particular environment that is related to a particular goal (Hoffer, A, et al, p.225).

In general, the purpose of using a use case diagram in the system design prototype

is that it is very useful for presentations to management and project stakeholders

so that it can have an overview on how the system would function in the real

world.



F8. The system should have a help button which will guide users.

F9. The system should be able to display the Naira in currency.

F10. The program should have a main menu where users can specify options

F11. The system should have a web page which will link to the main menu.

Figure 5: Overview of the entire system

EPOS SYSTEM

Inventory

Management

Sales

assistant Process

Order

Login

Product

Details

Customer

Details

Transactions

Check Out

Receipt

General

Sales

Access system

Login request

Perform

Access

inventory

View sales



3.14 Context Diagram

A context diagram is a data flow diagram, with only one massive central process

that subsumes everything inside the scope of the system. It shows how the system

will receive and send data flows to the external entities involved. Figure 5

illustrates how users can access the system, process order; access the inventory

management that stores product details, transactions and customer details. The

context diagram is useful because it analyses the system in a graphically and some

means of interaction within the system.

3.15 Interface design

Based on the graphic user interface (GUI) design of the system some considerations

were taken which lead to the success of achieving the user requirement. Basically

before designing of the system two types of prototyping tools were considered

which are: the paper prototyping and the software prototyping.

GUI design is interested with producing a representation of the required

appearance and behaviour of the entire user interface and the prototyping is

interested with building a subnet of the user interface (system functionality) and

examine its properties by interacting with it (Redmond and Moore 2008 p.218).

3.16 Paper Prototyping

Paper prototyping is a variation of usability testing where representative users

perform realistic tasks by interacting with a paper version of the interface that is

manipulated (Paperprototyping 2003). The paper prototype was used in the first

design of the system because it is cheaper, easy to use and helps to provide idea

on how the system is going to look like on paper sketch (See Appendix E)

3.17 Software Prototyping

A software prototyping is a system that actually works, which is not an idea or a

drawing, it is built quickly and cheaper, also which will not have a generalised

lifetime, thereby at one end of the spectrum it may be thrown away immediately

after use, at the other end it may eventually evolve into the final system (Preece

et al. 1994, p.538).



Making use of the paper prototype and software prototype was very useful, it

provides guidelines on how the system will be designed and structured, on the

other hand, software prototyping was necessary because interface can be designed

with it and changes can be made immediately, while the paper prototyping is easy

to make design sketches and idea how the system would be implemented in the

next stage.

Microsoft Visual Basic 2008 and Microsoft access 2007 software was used as a

software prototype to design the system.

3.18 Benefits of Prototyping

Prototyping is important when designing a system because it allows developer to

deliver successive, executable versions of the GUI moving. This provides the

following benefits:

Better communication with user

Reduced risk

User education

Improved design through feedback and iteration

Figure 6: GUI Prototyping inputs and outputs

GUI prototype

Prototype GUI

Task ScenarioGUI design

Usability

requirements

Design feedback



4.0 Specification

The purpose of a software design specification (SDS) is to define the software that

is to meet the functional requirements for the project (Urswriter nd).

This design specification document describes the functions and design for an

Electronic Point of Sale (EPOS) Prototype System. The software prototype system is

needed to support sales accuracy, improve time and storage of products in the

database system.

There are different types of specification these are as follow:

Functional specification

The Functional Design Specification (FDS) details the solution to be provided to

meet the Users and Functional Requirements.

It should be approved by the User and should form the basis of the design for both

Hardware and Software, also Functional specifications (functional specs) in the

end, are the blueprint for how an application would look and functions, however,

the details is required, what the finished product will do, how a user will interact

with it, and what it will look like (mojofat).

User interface specification

The User interface specification is the result of the user interface design stage.

User interface specification is a model of the software that analyses what the

designed software looks like and it’s behaviours.

The purpose of the user interface specification is that it provides an illustrative

requirement specification for the system (interacta).

Technical specification

A technical specification outlines the software, hardware and interface

requirements needed to process and maintain the information on system (cni

2002).

In general, it is necessary to identify the design specification when developing a

software system, the design specification could also act as a guide to the users,

with the details and how the system operates (See Appendix F)



4.1 Human computer interaction (HCI)

Human computer interaction is basically about designing computer systems thatsupport people so that it can carry out their activities productively and safe

(Preece et al. 1994, p.1)

The fact that today’s system should be more efficient, reliable and useful in the

way it interacts with users, Users should be able to pass mostly only the most

important information and allowing the system to act in a more independent way.

Therefore the Human-Computer Interaction mechanisms will be investigated and

applied. “Human computer interaction (HCI) is concerned with many areas such asinteraction between people and computers. Successful computer systems are

building with understanding of the interaction between people and computers.

This is the vital part of the system’s design” (Macaulay, 1995).

With the use of Visual basic and Access database for the design implementation

there will be a need to consider for human computer interaction.

5.0 Implementation of the system

This section consists of various stages which contained choosing the programming

language, Implementation, using various programming and testing techniques to

fulfil the requirements. Also one of the most important parts was making a

connection between visual basic 2008 and access databases. All these processes

are described within this section.

5.1 Programming language

Two programming languages were chosen for the proposed system implementation,

Visual basic is a high-level object-oriented and platform independent language. It

has rich application programming interface (API) for network support, graphical

user interface (GUI) design and there are numerous visual basic projects to support

different types of development.



Visual Basic was designed to make user friendly programs easier to develop; visual

basic is used by millions of software developers (Schneider D 2004). Visual Basic is

currently one of the most widely used visual programming languages used to

develop stand-alone windows applications. Visual Basic is not only a programming

language but also a true graphical development environment. The overall software

prototype of Electronic point of sale (EPOS) system is implemented using Visual

Basic 2008 and Access Database 2007. Visual Basic provides a perfect graphical

user interface for implement the staff login screen into the form to make the

system user friendly and interactive.

5.2 Advantages offered by Visual BasicVisual Basic has some advantages that make it responsible for the use in this

project. The advantages include the following:

Visual Basic as a programming language is relatively simple. Its structure is

quite straightforward.

It ideals with the development of Graphical User Interfaces (GUI).

The online MSDM libraries provide a comprehensive interactive and context-sensitive online help system.

5.3 MICROSOFT ACCESS DATABASE

Microsoft Access is a full service database program that has been in development

since 1992 (brighthub 2010). While it is not as robust as other corporate database

platforms, its usability makes it ideal for organizing small data sets, making it a

great choice for personal and small business use. On the other hand, Microsoft

Access is a relational database management system (RDBMS) that is packaged with

the Microsoft office to run under the Microsoft Windows operating system.

Microsoft Access Database is a Visual Basic based application that permits

Structured Query Language (SQL) statements to be included in associated macros

and VB scripts (Articlesnatch 2009).

The advantage is that it is quite inexpensive, compared to most of the other

programs in the Microsoft Office suite, Access is one of the lesser used ones,although it does have its applications in certain business environments.

http://www.alphasoftware.com/

http://www.alphasoftware.com/



5.4 Design Implementation

Figure 7: Login screen

Login Screen

The staff login screen was designed with visual basic and access database which

describes a basic interaction with the user by inputting a username and password

in the text box, also a button controls which act as a messenger to the system and

a label which identify the form input element.

Text Box control

The text box is a useful control; the aim of designing a text box in the Login form

is for users to enter a username and password. Basically with a text box users can

enter text in an application, the text box control is used to display, or accept as

input, a single line of text (Msdn.microsoft, 2010).On the other hand it will not be

reasonable if a combo box is used to design this section because users would feel

Help

Textbox

Exit button

Reset buttonLogin

button

Form



In the Access Database a table was designed which comprises the fundamental

building blocks of a database, it helps store of related information such as the

username and password of users.

Using database in the process is useful because username are been stored in it and

it can be retrievable of could be deleted form the database by the administrator.

On the other hand a user would not be abale to gain access to the system if the

username and password details are not stored in the database system. To gain

access to the system a username and password must be stored in the database for

the program to access the details.

Figure 9: Username and password table

Reset control button

The reset control button is similar to the every button but the only difference is

that it enables the user to clear the form. In most situations, some people make

mistakes and sometimes it is difficult to resolve, a user could enter a wrong

username or password in the text box by making a mistake, with the help of the

reset button users can easily clear the form and start all over rather than shutting

down the program (Reset button in figure 7).

Exit control button

The exit control button was implemented to allow users to close or next the

program. It is quite useful because it provides aid for users to close the program atany time, also programs must be properly rather than shutting down the system.



Help control button

The help control button was implement in order to provide guide to the users,

users sometimes find it difficult using a system at the first stage, it is necessary to

implement the help control button because it enlightens the user how to make use

of the system in order achieve a successful goal. (Help button in Figure7)

5.5 Connection from visual basic to access database

In order for users to login successfully on the system there is a means of

implementing a connection between Visual Basic and Access Database. Microsoft

has really put a significant amount of work into making it easy to work with

databases by connecting with visual basic. Database functionality can be built into

a Visual Basic application without writing any line of code.

Figure 10: Data source configuration wizard

Figure 9 shows the username password table that has been created with Access

database, connection from Visual basic to access database could be implemented

by selecting Visual basic selecting server explorer which would request for the type

of data sources that is needed.

5.6 Implementation on Access Data Source

In other to change the Data source field to Microsoft Access Database. Some

procedure has to be taken:

Click on the Browse button and locate the visafoneusernamepassword.accdb

database. Once visafoneusernamepassword database is selected, then click on the

test Connection button to verify the database is accessible. If the connection is



successful, then click on the OK button to apply the connection. Once the

database connection is established, the next step is to select the data source to be

used in the application. To achieve this, select the Data->Add New Data Source

menu option. The data source configuration wizard will display.

Figure 11: choosing data connection

After selecting data from the database, the Database is highlighted in the dialog

and then click Next to proceed. Also visafoneusernamepassword database is listed

in the screen displayed.

Figure 12: choosing database

The next step displays a dialog, by clicking on yes the database would move to the

Visual basic project area. Finally the wizard will display the connection string and

the default suggestion.



With the connection of the Access database, whenever a user enters a username

and password the database reads the details if it is correct and matches what is in

the database. If the username and password is successful the user would be able to

gain access to the main menu. On the other hand if the username and password is

not in the database an error message is been displayed.

Figure 13: correct username and password

Figure 14: Main menu



Figure 15: login failed

The system was implemented to display a message box if the username and

password is not recognized by the database system. Some possible exception mightoccur during the process of the system. Exceptions might occur when a user enters

an invalid value on the system or something missing in the form. Generally, users

cannot be perfect all the time sometimes an error occurs when carrying out a task,

but the best way of solving this problem is by providing an error message box

which act as a guideline to the users when having some difficulties.

According to Jakob Nielsen’s which states that error messages should be clearly

visible and educates users along the way (Useit, 2001), an error message box was

used to develop the system, In a process whereby a user inpits an invalid value in

the text box that is not in the database system, an error message pops up “Please

enter a valid username and password” the error on the screen occur because the

users has entered a value that is not recognized by the database. The error

message can also be a guide to the user because when the message displays, the

user would have an idea on what is wrong and what to do next time when using the

system.



Main menu form

Visual Basic was use to implement the Main Menu form in order to provide a clean

and easy interface for navigating through the different forms in the system. Also a

buttons control was implemented to open up other forms.

Figure 16: Main menu form

The Main Menu form act as a power house to system with simple interface, various

task could be achieve with the use of the main menu users can make searching

faster and speed up some task.

The main menu was also implemented to provide users a list of task such as:

Item sold and invoice

Sales and activities

Stock inventory

Search product

Visa Online

In general, the main menu acts as a power house to the system because if a user

cannot log in to the system, there would be no means to make use of the main

menu, only when a user logged in successfully. The task was implemented to

navigate through the menu system.



Product search form

The product search form was implemented with the use of Visual basic that would

be able to provide a simple interface to the user, the system was develop in order

to search for a particular product description, also a list box was designed which

contains a various products. Text box and button control are discussed in figure

Figure 17: Product description search form

In most situations, a search form is very important to the users and the customers,

visual basic has been implemented in form to enable uses carry out the search task

as fast as possible and also displaying an accurate result. The search form is similar

to previous form, the only difference is that it performs the search task and stores

the product in a list box (See Appendix for code script).

Jakob Nielsen stated that users often move fast and furiously when looking for a

search field, the search input field should be wide enough to contain the typical

query; if the box is too small, the query will scroll and diminish usability.

In general, usability has to be considered in every aspect of design, the search

input field was has been designed to match the usability guidelines stated by Jakob

Nielsen.

The search form has been implemented to help users successfully by achieving

different goals.

List of products

http://www.useit.com/jakob/




The stock inventory form has been designed to display product details using visual

basic DataGridView control.

Some of the implementation of the stock inventory involves adding a new product

deleting a particular product and saving a new product.

The Visual Basic DataGridView control was implemented in order to provide table

in rows and columns from a database table which could be displayed and modified.

Figure 20: product inventory form

Dataset could be Implement in Visual Basic when a database is created and

connected in VB. Dataset can contain all the basic elements of the database:

tables, keys, indexes, and even relations between tables. The differences between

a Dataset and a database are that a database generally resides on a hard drive in

one or more files and is usually larger. A Dataset usually holds a subset of the data

Save product

Delete product

Add product

DataGridView

Table

rows

Table columns

Adding

a new

product



Sales and invoice form

The sales and invoice form was implemented with Visual basic, it is very important

to users when dealing with customers. The components and control used has been

discussed in Figure.

It involves calculation of items; the form was designed for user accuracy when

dealing with customers .

Figure 23: Sales form

Also a print button control was implemented in order for users to print out

customers receipt. The process button control was implemented with visual basic

which deals with the calculation of quantity (Qty), item, unit price and price.

The sales and invoice form could perform some calculation such as the sub total,

Goods and Services Tax (Gst), Provincial Sales Tax (Pst) and total of item

purchased. The calculation was implemented in other to output Nigerian Naira.

5.7 Issues arising implementation

Some issues were encountered when implementing the prototype system in Visual

basic and Access database. The first issue is related to the connection of Visual

basic and Access database. Basically, working on different computers whencarrying out implementation could lead to data corruption, the proposed prototype

Process order

Main menu

Print control

Clear control



system was implemented in two different computers which were a laptop and

desktop computer. The issue generated when the proposed prototype system was

transferred from one computer to another. When working on Visual basic and

Access database some errors were displayed which stated "Unrecognized database

format” when implementing the database on Visual basic. Due to system upgrading

and Microsoft beta software of access database, the system was not able to access

the database folder. On the other hand, working on any other computer with

registered software, errors would be resolved.

Second issue was encountered when executing Visual basic program on another

computer “laptop” some error messages always display after developing the

interface and coding, which appears in a statement “vshost.exe has stopped

working” the error statement was displayed often because the program file was

not running in the right file format.

5.8 Software and system Testing

System testing is vital to the success of the system. Software Testing is an activity

that helps in finding out bugs, defects, and possible errors in a software system

under development, in order to provide a bug free and reliable system to the user

(buzzle 2010). It is necessary to carry out system testing after implementation,

because it identifies the end of the development phase of the project. Performing

system testing involves integrating two or more components that implement the

system functions or requirement and to recover errors causing wrong behaviour of

the programme. (Sommerville 2004, p.540-541)

Visual basic programs are easy to test when any task is been completed, it is

important to test a system after implementing the users requirement. The

integration testing would be used for the system.

Integration testing was used because it identifies the system functionality,

performance, and user requirements used to implement the system. Also it

consists of constant checking of the correct system behaviour for every code line

of the program.

Visual basic is a program which relies on coding of a program, if the code outcome

does not matches the expectation then a debug is required. Debugging could be

held for some methods that the code consists of component and control used in

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Requirement

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Requirement



the program. After the final implementation of the system all the code were

properly checked for a suitable response.

6.0 Results

Figure displays a distinctive output from the program, which has a clear success in

achieving the user functionality.

Figure 24: successful result of sales and item sold after testing

6.1 Test case result

Test cases are the specific inputs that were held and the procedures that were

taking when testing software (Ron Patton 2001, p. 65).



Table1: Test case product search form, login form and stock inventory form

Test Case Expected result Pass/Fail

1.

Type in a productname

The product name inthe product list was

selected and the

product description was

displayed

Pass

2. Type in any name

“welcome”

Error message “no

matching results were

found

Pass

3. Login with any

details

Error message “ Please

enter a valid username

and password

Pass

4. Add a product in

the database.

Added already Pass

The testing was done after implementing the overall system prototype to achieve

the users’ requirement.

6.2 Interview and Questionnaire Result

Some of the information received from the interview and questionnaire were

helpful in this project, it provides guideline and structure that lead to analysing

what the users need and how the system could be friendly. Some of the feedback

received when conducting the questionnaire was analysed with the use of an excel

sheet producing a bar chart to analyse the feedback obtained (See Appendix)Conducting an interview was very useful to this project; this was done with Skype

messenger and was documented. This means of gathering information act as a back

bone to developer whereby useful idea and how to design the prototype system

was acquire when processing these interview (See Appendix)



7.0 Evaluation and Conclusions

Heuristic evaluation

According to Jakob Nielsen Heuristic evaluation is a usability engineering method

for finding the usability problems in a user interface design so that they can be

attended to as part of an iterative design process (Useit, 2010).

The heuristic evaluation was carried out on the proposed prototype system in order

to identify usability problems or error in the user interface.

Process evaluation

The process of the software prototype system used waterfall approach. Waterfallapproach follows a particular life cycle in order to ensure success in process of

software prototype system, whereby the software development has to be created

after following the stages of waterfall approach:

First the system requirements have to be identified. In the project the system

requirements were identified and it was declared what have to be done in

order to achieve the users’ requirements.

The first prototype was created that would be an approximation of the finalsystem after implementation.

Designing the second prototype, developing an interactive user interface was

considered to meet the advanced requirements. Then the second prototype

was tested for accuracy.

Identifying programming language to be implemented on the system in other

to achieve a successful program and user requirement

The final system is designed. It has to satisfy the users and systemrequirements. In the project the system used database storage in order to be

able to meet the design specifications.

The final system is tested for accuracy and error checking, in the project the

final system was tested with a test case.

The waterfall model is a reliable and simple approach for the software prototype

system development process. It enables developer to proceed in sequence from


http://www.useit.com/papers/heuristic/

http://www.useit.com/jakob/useengbook.html

http://www.useit.com/jakob/useengbook.html

http://www.useit.com/papers/heuristic/




one phase to the next (Dennis and Wixom 2003, p.9). This method is widely used to

develop large-scale systems by developer.

This approach was suitable for the project because it moves forward from phase to

phase and helps to identify the system requirement along before any programming

begins.

During each stage of the design implementation some components and control

were added to the proposed system and the program was successfully tested and

existing errors were eliminated. It is necessary to apply this method because it

analyses the each phase of the design and provides guidelines on what task has to

be done. The proposed software prototype system (EPOS) is not complete

software; it is an Epos prototype system that illustrates how the system would

function in real world. On the other hand if time were given there would be a

means to complete the full system and implementing some payment method with

an electronic card (credit card and debit card).

The prototype system is successfully test and usability is considered.

7.1 Conclusion

This project is an Electronic point of sale (EPOS) prototype system that has been

implemented and evaluated for its capacity to allow users to effectively carry out

activities in a communication industry by improve pricing accuracy, eliminating

errors and as well as time saving in dealing with customers.

The software prototype system has been developed with a Visual basic and Access

database software to provide a good user interface and easy navigation to screen

form, the software prototype system composites a basic EPOS system features as

Login screen, searching of products, adding, deleting of products, sales

calculation, navigating to task screen and some advanced features.

This project will be able to improve customer’s satisfaction by the means of

accuracy when dealing with customer.

This prototype system was design and implemented in order to support users such

as sales assistant in communication industries. The idea behind the prototype

system is that there is a need perform a task and at the same time is not very

complicated.



The process that was used to develop the project would allow for the capable

future development since it is directed towards regular improvement.

8.0 Recommendations

Designing a software prototype is necessary before focusing on the overall system

implementation (Pyle and Moore 2008,p.220) Microsoft Visual basic could be an

advantage when designing the system interface, it is necessary to think about users

and what is needed and only on the design itself. Providing good interface for the

users is absolutely essential and this could be done with visual basic controls and

components.

The Waterfall development is still a widely used way of working in software

development companies, it provides guide for the developers. Some developers

presently are focusing on it, which is still used today (Dennis and Wixom 2003,

p.9), this enables project to move from phase to phase and overview on how and

what to do next, in order to achieve a successful project. This methodology should

be considered in other for projects to be successful.



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Appendices

epos prototype

Documents