Briefly summarize the DriverPass project. Who was the client? What type of system did they want you to design?
This project was for the client of DriverPass. The system they were hoping to build was a web-based system to allow students to prepare for the state DMV driving tests. The website was to be used to allow students to take practice tests and to schedule on-the-road instruction from a trained driver.
I think the UML diagrams I created were particularly good. I thought this was an enjoyable part of the project and I think that I laid out decent processes to solve the problems and requirements of the system.
If you could choose one part of your work on these documents to revise, what would you pick? How would you improve it?
If I were to improve one part of these documents I think I would choose to revise the Gantt chart. I think I would like a more detailed Gantt chart then the basic outline of the time frame. I think having more detailed expectations of when things should be expected rather than just a general overview would be more useful.
How did you interpret the user’s needs and implement them into your system design? Why is it so important to consider the user’s needs when designing?
I interpretted the users needs by ensuring that each user type would be presented with a different home screen. I think that each user would need a different interface with the system and the best way to do this is by designing each homescreen to be different. It's important to consider the user's needs when designing because the users are going to be the main consumers of the system. The system should be a useful tool to extend what users are already capable of doing, rather than a hinderance.
How do you approach designing software? What techniques or strategies would you use in the future to analyze and design a system?
In the past I have wrote my ideas in a less standardized way when designing software. Having UML and a standardized way of communicating these complex ideas is very useful and that will be how I plan to approach designing software systems in the future.