WEB Engineering

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WEB Engineering

• E-Business Strategy

WEB Engineering
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Contents

• The Attributes of Web-Based Applications
• The Web Eng. Process
• A Framework for Web Eng.
• Formulating/Analysing Web-Based Systems
• Design for Web-Based Applications
• Testing Web-Based Applications
• Management Issues

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The Attributes of Web-based Applications

• The Situation - the vast majority of web-based
  applications are
• network intensive,
• content-driven,
• in continuous evolution.
• Quality Attributes - general quality attributes
  apply as much to web-based apps as to other s/w
  product. The difference is in emphasis on
  Usability, Functionality, Reliability,
  Maintainability
• The Technologies - development of web apps uses
• component-based development /software
  engineering,
• security paradigms - methods, tools, procedures,
• Internet standards (HTML, XML, de facto media
  standards, etc.).

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Process

• The Web Eng. Process is shaped by
• Networks,
• Content
• as much a material and design issue as a
  functional issue
• Continuous evolution

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A Framework for Web Engineering.

• Remembering the continuously evolving nature of
  web apps, a spiral model
• formulation,
• planning,
• analysis,
• engineering,
• page generation and testing,
• customer evaluation
• engineering architectural / navigation /
  interface design
• content design / production

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Formulation, Planning and Analysis

• Formulation - ask the questions to identify the
  objectives and audience of the web app.
• Planning - costs, resources, risks, plans,
  timescale (always compressed!).
• Analysis - content, interaction, functional,
  confign.
• (cf. requirements analysis)

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Engineering/Design

• Stages
• Architecture (structures),
• Architecture (patterns),
• Navigation,
• Interface,
• Production.
• (refer to checklist, etc. at back of presentation)

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Testing Web Apps

• Review content
• Review design
• Processing components are unit tested
• Architecture integration tests
• Complete Web app tested (functionality content
  delivery)
• Environment (operating systems) compatibility
  testing
• End-user tests

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Management

• The Web team - different people for different
  roles
• Project management -
• outsourcing issues
• estimation - time, schedule, resources, etc.
• risk estimation
• Scope
• Configuration Management -
• content control
• people / authority to make, approve, implement
  changes
• scale (change to scale change to type of
  control)
• ownership of components (rights and
  responsibilities)

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Enterprise Usability Management A Compass for
Top Management

• Equate usability with competitiveness and quality
  in the enterprise
• Trace cost of usability problems to the source
• Incorporate design and evaluation cycles into
  product development
• Balance the use of static design standards and
  dynamic research results
• Systematise the learning of design principles and
  skills
• Develop team evaluation methods for team design
  projects.
• Align feedback loops from all sources toward new
  product design
• Maintain cross-project collaboration in the
  product design process
• Align all forms of communication to customers who
  use the products
• Participate in growing the base of knowledge
  about usability
• .

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Ten Steps to Product Usability A Roadmap for
Project Managers

• Set strategic and detailed usability objectives
• Develop and incorporate user profiles
• Prioritise critical product components and task
  flow
• Identify a design team and clarify roles
• Define the UI design process (traditional GUI and
  Web interfaces)
• Develop a usability evaluation strategy
• a usability test plan.... when should you test?
  how should you structure the test?
• Establish product design guidelines (traditional
  GUI and Web designs)
• Develop a UI specifications documentation
  procedure
• Develop a user assistance strategy
• help, tutorials, splash screens, etc. that
  make-up the user assistance strategy
• Maintain a feedback channel for users

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Ten Elements of Usability A Yardstick for
Designers

• Clarify the core concepts of the design
• Plan and maintain consistency (internal and
  external consistency of UI design)
• Fit content to customers who use the product
• Provide reassuring and effective feedback
• Clarify interaction rules (dialog design, data
  entry, selection, modes, drag and drop, etc.)
• Structure navigation clearly (menus, tree
  structures)
• Use plain terminology (terminology within the
  user's knowledge domain - know your user)
• Optimise user assistance (help tools /on-line
  help and documentation)
• Optimise visual design (graphics, layout, icons,
  metaphors, real world models)
• Design for the context of use

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Checklist for Testing Your Web Pages for
Accessibility

• Turn off graphics, make sure the ALT text
  displayed makes the page usable
• Turn off sounds, make sure no important
  instructions are lost
• Turn off style sheets, to make sure the page is
  still readable
• Use the High Contrast option in the Accessibility
  Options section of Control Panel, restart the
  browser, make sure the page is still readable.
• Use Custom Font Sizes in the Display section of
  Control Panel
• Use the largest font size supported by the
  browser (the largest is only available when High
  Contrast mode is turned on)
• Resize the browser window larger and smaller
• Navigate using the keyboard, make sure TAB
  traverses all links in reasonable order and that
  CTRLTAB moves between panes or sections
• Select all text and copy it to the clipboard,
  ensure it makes sense when pasted into a word
  processor
• Use an analysis tool, such as Bobby, to examine
  your pages