Health Tactical: An E-Commerce Startup

Topics: Commerce, Health Words: 2445 Pages: 8

Project Overview

This project is an e-commerce startup going by the name Health Tactical that looks to sell groceries and common goods with a special focus on health aspects. The platform will sell products targeted at health and wellbeing-conscious individuals. The website will provide a convenient online store where enthusiasts of different health and wellbeing trends can find their preferable products and supplements. To this end, the site will sell organic food, diet supplements and related products.

This project looks to supply these individuals with the food and supplementation they need. Further, the platform will act as a middleman between these followers and suppliers of the desired goods. This ties in with the project’s major goals including:

Allow health and wellbeing enthusiasts easy and fast access to products.
Offer convenient shopping.
Increase the market reach of local suppliers.
Cater to different health trends.

Information technology (IT) has a significant role to play and is directly tied to the success of the platform. The project is wholly dependent on IT to be created, hosted, and maintained. IT will allow for the automation of different aspects of business that will make it easier to handle customers, process their orders, track inventory, and cater to a large number of people. Further, IT will facilitate information dissemination as customers will be able to compare between the different products and trends.

Functional Business Requirements (Scope) and Scope Control

Area	Scope	Incorporation Strategies
Applications	To meet the target production date, only these applications will be implemented: Shop system Back-end Logistics Analytics and Business Intelligence	Use interfaces between the different components. Use links to facilitate movement from one component to another. Group similar components into different classes and create relationships between them to facilitate data transfer and navigation. Use application programming interfaces to communicate with external programs and applications.
Sites	These sites are considered part of the implementation: a space dedicated to development and a room to install the server and database.	Set aside a room for the development activities. Rent a development space if one is lacking. Create a space that will act as a server room or rent one if not available.
Process Re-engineering	Re-engineering will: Reconfigure processes that perform sub-optimally.	All application processes will be tested and evaluated for performance. Processes that slow the system down, impose heavy taxes on system resources, take a long time to execute, or work sub-optimally will be redesigned, modified, and implemented differently.
Customization	Customizations will be limited to: General consumer trends. Product suggestions.	Company managers and employees will conduct research online and identify the most dominant dietary trends. The trends will be selected according to the number of posts on social media platforms, post engagement, mentions, and scientific backing. Trends with an adequate number of followers and plausible scientific backing will be reviewed for incorporation into the e-commerce platform’s categories. Products recommendation to the client will be based on their previous purchases and search history.
Interfaces	Interfaces included are: Catalogue Cart Check Out Stock Management Consignment Stock Receipt Return Shipments	The system will use an underlying software base to connect between the primary shop system and backend components. These interfaces appear on one of these systems so there will be permissions attached to accessing them. Navigation between the different pages will be mediated by links.
Architecture	Application and technical architecture will facilitate customer navigation, purchase, inquiries, and feedback.	All additional components will be created either on the front or back-end depending on the type of user, either customer or administrator. The architecture will be designed to be adaptable to allow for easy addition, modification, removal, or update of components, interfaces, and features.
Conversion	Only the following data and volume will be considered for conversion: user browsing history, user profile data, and location.	Implement routines and sub-routines that will access this data from the user’s browser cookies with their permission. Link our system with the Google Analytics API.
Testing	Testing will include all components and methods that make up the whole application. Testing will include both functional and non-functional testing methodologies. Functional testing will test the platform to see how well it satisfies system requirements and how well each part works based on different use cases. Non-functional testing will test the system to see how operational the platform is. Functional Methodologies: Unit testing Integration testing System testing Acceptance testing Non-functional testing: Performance testing Security testing Usability testing Compatibility testing	Every function and method in the application will include testing methods that will verify their functionality. Build a robust testing framework that features both functional and non-functional testing methodologies.
Funding	Project funding is limited to $100,000 raised by angel investors.	Sign up to reputable angel investor websites and pitch this idea. Enlist acquaintances with the needed funds.
Training	Training will be conducted on the operations manager and user-facing employees like those in customer care.	Conduct a week-long training program to teach back-end users how to use the application. Include a software wizard that will guide first-time admin users through the website. Include a ‘Help’ page featuring frequently asked questions.
Education	Education will include: How to navigate the platform. How to view, delete, modify, and update user and product information.	Include a software wizard that will guide first-time admin users through the website. Include a ‘Help’ page featuring frequently asked questions.
Engagement	Customer engagement will include emails, offers, rewards, and discounts.	Create a dialog box that will ask users to sign up for newsletters as they navigate the platform. The same will be displayed at the checkout page. Include an email feature to send newsletters to subscribers. Include coupons and vouchers with various offers.

Scope Control

The team realizes that change is inevitable, and the scope of the project is bound to be static over the development life cycle. It is for this reason that there are several approaches and contingencies to ensure the change does not overwhelm the successful delivery of the final product. To this end, we will leverage technology, communication, best practices, and resources (Hassan & Asghar, 1). The project’s scope will be mainly affected by time and cost, and the first step is to keep these variables under control. The scope will be kept in check by allowing a maximum deviation of 10% in time and cost. A larger deviation will prompt the review of the whole project and redesigning of the schedule and work plan if it emerges that the components that increased scope are essential and might have been overlooked. All changes due to a deviation above the 10% threshold will have to be approved by top management.

We will control the scope by creating an exhaustive project specification that features all the components needed by this type of platform. The list will include all conceivable features and components that will then be narrowed down to the most important and necessary ones. The specification will be created in collaboration with industry experts to ensure no element is left out. Further, the project will be developed in line with best practices to ensure we use the least amount of resources and time. Following proven methods and approaches will give room for any unanticipated elements and ensure they are completed as fast as possible. Only changes to primary components will be incorporated; changes to non-essential features and components will be made after project completion.

Change control will manage changes to the scope identified in this document. Any changes affecting project costs and timelines require business owner approval.

Non-functional Business Requirements (Governance, Risk, Compliance) (1 page)

Governance

Non-functional business requirements related to governance include: Ease-of-use, Accuracy, Reliability, and Efficiency. The platform has to be intuitive to use for any new administrator or back-end user. This means that it does not require specialized or highly technical knowledge to operate. The system must also give the correct feedback when prompted to reduce errors and mistakes. Further, the system has to perform well and give quality feedback consistently whenever it is operational. Finally, the system has to perform at a high rate with minimum resources.

Risk

Non-functional business requirements related to risk include: Security, Availability, and Safety. The platform should always be safe and unthreatened by attacks from malicious parties. The system should always be online unless stated prior to being taken offline. Users should always be able to access the platform at their convenience without any problem. The system should also be protected from harm or loss.

Compliance

Non-functional business requirements related to compliance include: Security, Safety, Confidentiality, and Accessibility. The law requires that such a platform be unthreatened by malicious parties that would want to acquire user data and disrupt service. In addition, the system should be adequately protected from any unintended loss or harm that might inconvenience users. All user information stored on the website should not be accessible to the wrong parties and users should be able to log in whenever they desire.

Revision

Non-functional business requirements related to compliance include: Flexibility, Maintainability, Modifiability, and Scalability. The system should be robust and not break easily when under stress. Features and components should be easy to keep running and operational. Also, they should be easy to change, remove, add or update as needed. Finally, the system should be easy to replicate in a range of similar scenarios.

Technical Requirements for Integration of E-commerce Components

Performance – this requirement does with the system’s handling of its functions under given conditions. Instances include execution time, throughput, workload, and speed of response (Gralha et al., 2). The programming language used has to do well in all the listed aspects. Such a language would ensure all components work together seamlessly as there will be no conflicts, bottlenecks and similar issues that would undermine integration.

Real-time Data Availability – the system should be able to avail data when it is needed. In other words, each component’s access to data is always fast and uninterrupted. Therefore, the system’s workload should be always optimized and use software-defined storage as much as possible. Data should flow through the application fast and seamlessly at all times.

Flexibility – the system should be able to adapt to changes in usability and environment requirements without needing structural changes. The system should allow interfaces that integrate both current and future components. This means that it should be a system that can handle components in their various forms and types without needing any significant changes.

Reliability – the system should be able to perform as intended for the life of the platform. The system will be created to offer seamless interfacing between the different components and should do the same without failure as long as the website is live. Failure to meet this requirement will compromise integration.

Accuracy – successful integration needs correct and precise data. One component’s function is often reliant on another component’s output so it is crucial that the information exchanged is free of error. This is to say that the information a component receives has to be the exact information sent from another.

Potential Risks, Constraints, and Assumptions

Risks

Budgeting Issues – Financial issues are one of the biggest hurdles that stand in the way of successful project management (Alves et al., 3). Budgeting issues in this project can occur because of missing cost categories or the budget is based on a weak foundation. The budget may fail to reflect all costs it will incur or the project schedule, effort estimates, and resource estimates may be way off.
Inadequate Skills of Team Members – the development team’s performance is highly dependent on the skill levels of individual members (Menezes et al., 4). The team or some members might lack the skills needed to solve the challenges that will lead to the realization of the project and cause significant delays or even a complete halt.
Unrealistic Deadlines – the end product’s quality is highly susceptible to the adequacy of allocated time and impossible deadlines undermine the same. Such deadlines are usually the result of overestimating the capability of the development team and negotiating or setting too short turnaround times (Menezes et al., 4). This problem can also arise because of the project manager’s allocation of inadequate time to specific crucial application tasks.
Scope Creep – scope creep is always expected in all types of project. Scope creep can be beneficial sometimes but often the disadvantages outweigh the advantages by far (Alves et al., 3). A significant majority of teams face this issue and it is mostly at the hands of vague requirements. An unclear picture of desired outcomes is often to blame for this phenomenon.
Lack of Accountability – projects run exceptionally when all team members have a sense of responsibility and try their best to fulfill the responsibilities of their role. This project will fail if some members of the development team do not have a sense of accountability.

Risk	Preventative/Mitigating Strategies
Budgeting Issues	Make realistic assumptions and adopt the right budgeting procedure and project scheduling tool.
Inadequate Skills of Team Members	Pre-determine needed competencies and evaluate available employees to determine if new ones should be added.
Unrealistic Deadlines	Take inputs from all project team members and monitor deadlines frequently.
Scope Creep	Plan talent and resource usage accurately and decline ad-hoc change suggestions and directive.
Lack of Accountability	Assign responsibilities to each member and direct all efforts towards the attainment of a common objective.

Constraints

These constraints have been identified: Resources, Time, Cost, Scope. There are limitations on the project’s deliverables, detail and quality. The project is also bound by a budget and costs attached to material, facilities, equipment, salaries, and miscellaneous expenses. Time constraints include time allocated for strategy and planning, internal calendars and milestones, hours worked on components, and overall project timeline. There are also constraints attached to the amount of resources the project can use. Resource constraints are attached to software, facilities, equipment, and people.

Assumptions

The most significant assumptions related to defining this project scope, objectives, and approach scope include: the scope of the project will not change over the life cycle, the overall project cost will not increase, team members will have all the requisite skills and capabilities, all needed resources will be available. Together, these assumptions led to the conclusion that the project will run smoothly from start to finish without any hitches.

Sources

Hassan, I. U., & Asghar, S. (2021). A framework of software project scope definition elements: an ISM-DEMATEL approach. IEEE Access, 9, 26839-26870.

Gralha, C., Damian, D., Wasserman, A., Goulão, M., & Araújo, J. (2018, May). The evolution of requirements practices in software startups. In 2018 IEEE/ACM 40th International Conference on Software Engineering (ICSE) (pp. 823-833). IEEE.

Alves, J. L., Ferreira, E. A., & de Nadae, J. (2021). Crisis and risks in engineering project management: A review. Brazilian Journal of Operations & Production Management, 18(4), 1-17.

Menezes, J., Gusmão, C., & Moura, H. (2019). Risk factors in software development projects: a systematic literature review. Software Quality Journal, 27(3), 1149-1174.