User:Kiripalla

Kiran Palla

CIS50 Winter 2012

I'm interested in learning how Information Systems work and what role they play in our lives. I have taken classes in programming, computer software and hardware, data processing, etc. I'd like to see how computers work on a larger scale.

Lee: Hello Kiran. I hope you do well is your studies here at De Anza and wherever you plan on transferring, if you choose to!

Concept Development (Week 2) There's a website that I love called Goodreads which lets you build a sort of virtual library of books that you've read, are reading, or want to read. It takes the information from each book rating or review you post and suggests books you might like. Would this work for the project? Use: Organize and share books you've read or want to read, rate and review, network with like-minded individuals

Users: Readers!

Users Need: An email address to make an account, knowledge and interest in books

System Need: Information about most/all books published, algorithms to match readers' preferences with similar books, way for moderators to verify and manage personal posts (members can post things like book covers)

Available Information: Book information - summary, author, reviews, etc

Requirements (Week 3) Users will need any device that can access the internet, wired or wireless. For a computer, they would need a computer with the basic motherboard, hard drive, graphic cards, RAM, etc. In order to access the mobile application, users will need a mobile device with Wifi and the ability to run basic applications. I hope to create apps for both Apple and Android markets.

Design Specifications (Week 4) What: need to take inputs from users ( username/password, profile picture, ratings for books, reviews for books), also need to take input from databases of what books exist and their information, such as author, publication, cover, etc. Output would be what is displayed on the website. For example, a list would show books a user has read, books a user has reviewed, etc.

A key feature that would set this website apart is the suggestions feature. It would offer suggestions for other books a user might enjoy, chosen by looking at what books they have liked or disliked. This would require some sort of algorithm or game theory-type program that could take inputs of books like or disliked and compare them other books in the database. To do this I would need the database to include, not just titles and authors of books, but also themes and styles of each book.

Finally, another function will be the actual design and layout of the website itself. This would also be created using programming to create graphics, links, etc. An alternative to programming (using HTML for example) could be to use a website-creating software that already exists. With these programs, somebody has already done the programming for you. You can use the functions of the software to build your own website.

Cost-Benefit Analysis of Lifecycle Project (Week 5) One of the most important features of my project is the book recommendation feature which would take books your ratings and use them to find books that you might like. This process would require a complex algorithm that considers certain themes from each book and uses them to find another match. I imagine this would be the hardest part of the project and, therefore, the most costly in terms of time, labor, and, consequently, labor. Because this process should be unique to the website, it is not something that could be bought. However, there are many ways to build the website itself that could be “bought”. There are software programs that help create a website, for example Web Studio, Microsoft’s Expression Web, etc. This would be an additional cost but, in terms of time and labor saved, I think it would be a worthy investment.

As for competition, I will have to make my website stand out. There are lots of websites, shows, magazines, and forums where people can review and suggest books. My website needs to offer things that other websites don’t. Some features that I think will make my website more appealing are the visual aspects of it. Rather than just lists of books, like you would have in a forum or article, I want the user to feel like they’re in a library when they use my website. The books will be represented by images and, when you read a book, it will be placed on a “shelf”. These features will require a different type of programming that focuses less on algorithms and more on graphics. For example, I could use Flash to show the book being placed on the shelf or opening to a page. This would be an additional cost because it would require more time and investment in a person who knows how to use Flash, but I think in the end the benefit will outweigh the cost. When reading, people feel nostalgic. I think most people would prefer a book in their hands to a computer screen. The visual aspect of my website will definitely give it a competitive advantage.

Development Overview (Week 5) One of the most important features of my project is the book recommendation feature which would take books your ratings and use them to find books that you might like. This process would require a complex algorithm that considers certain themes from each book and uses them to find another match. I imagine this would be the hardest part of the project and, therefore, the most costly in terms of time, labor, and, consequently, labor. Because this process should be unique to the website, it is not something that could be bought. However, there are many ways to build the website itself that could be “bought”. There are software programs that help create a website, for example Web Studio, Microsoft’s Expression Web, etc. This would be an additional cost but, in terms of time and labor saved, I think it would be a worthy investment

As for competition, I will have to make my website stand out. There are lots of websites, shows, magazines, and forums where people can review and suggest books. My website needs to offer things that other websites don’t. Some features that I think will make my website more appealing are the visual aspects of it. Rather than just lists of books, like you would have in a forum or article, I want the user to feel like they’re in a library when they use my website. The books will be represented by images and, when you read a book, it will be placed on a “shelf”. These features will require a different type of programming that focuses less on algorithms and more on graphics. For example, I could use Flash to show the book being placed on the shelf or opening to a page. This would be an additional cost because it would require more time and investment in a person who knows how to use Flash, but I think in the end the benefit will outweigh the cost. When reading, people feel nostalgic. I think most people would prefer a book in their hands to a computer screen. The visual aspect of my website will definitely give it a competitive advantage.

Integration and Testing (Week 6) My website is very user-oriented. My main focus with developing the website would be customer service and user experience. The first step will be organizing the site itself. There will be a large database of books and information about them, so those books will be divided by categories on the website. That way, the user can search for books based on a theme they feel like reading about. There will also be individual user pages which will display information about the user, such as name, interests, and books read. There are also lots of interactive elements I hope to integrate. For example, users will be able to post reviews about books they have read. For the reviews, there will need to be a system developed to make sure reviews are appropriate and applicable. There will also need to be a way to make sure reviews with spoilers are marked. This could be a system wide thing or just an honor code for individuals. That is one thing I would want to test. If users are, in general, good about marking spoilers, I will not need to develop a system to search for them myself. However, if testing shows users are not following the honor code, I would need to rethink the system. I will also want to test whether the algorithm for suggesting books work. Again, I will need lots of users to use the website and see whether they like or dislike books the website recommends based on their tastes.

Overall, I want to make sure my website is easy to use, interesting, and functional. This will involve a lot of beta testing to see what works and what doesn’t. I will also have to try and find out what people like and don’t like. This won’t be as easy, because finding errors and fixing them is much easier than figuring out a person’s likes or dislikes. Hopefully, through user feedback over a period of time, I will be able to find a system that works and makes the users happy.

Deployment and Acceptance (Week 7)

I will like to have a period of beta testing before officially launching the website. To get testing members, I will go to forums and blogs where the users are more likely to be genuinely interested in the project. For example, online book clubs and book review blogs will be a great place to start. After that period of beta testing, I will take some time to analyze the feedback I’d received and fix and errors. I will also try to make services better and more useful, based on the reviews I had gotten. After all that was finished, I will begin advertising on a larger scale for the website. During this time though, I will keep the website up and running so current users will stay interested and could invite their friends. Once the advertising has started, there will be a larger number of users with more diverse backgrounds and interests. This will pose a new set of problems, but they should be easier to handle because the big kinks have been worked out and by then, we will be used to the process. I will be sure to have a team that is good with fixing bugs and also understands the importance of user experienceI will like to have a period of beta testing before officially launching the website. To get testing members, I will go to forums and blogs where the users are more likely to be genuinely interested in the project. For example, online book clubs and book review blogs will be a great place to start. After that period of beta testing, I will take some time to analyze the feedback I’d received and fix and errors. I will also try to make services better and more useful, based on the reviews I had gotten. After all that was finished, I will begin advertising on a larger scale for the website. During this time though, I will keep the website up and running so current users will stay interested and could invite their friends. Once the advertising has started, there will be a larger number of users with more diverse backgrounds and interests. This will pose a new set of problems, but they should be easier to handle because the big kinks have been worked out and by then, we will be used to the process. I will be sure to have a team that is good with fixing bugs and also understands the importance of user experience

Production (Week 8) I'd like my system to have updates to the website once in a while to fix bugs and make changes that I think will enhance the user experience. Hopefully a lot of the bugs will have been fixed during beta testing so I can focus more on expanding the service and making it more useful and user-friendly. I'd also like to run some updates in general to make sure the book catalog has all the new books/authors as well as new covers of books. I think the visual element of my website is key, so having the right covers is important. Overall, I am hoping that once the website has been opened to the web, it will (in general) be complete and not require a lot of changes. I do recognize, however, that problems will need to be fixed. I also enjoy the thought of making changes in response to what people like or dislike about the website. As time goes by, tastes and technology change and I want my website to adapt to that. I think that will be my main focus after publishing the site

Retirement and Rollover (Week 9) My hope is that my app/website will have a long "useful life" because it doesn't really depend on a trend or specific technology. The idea behind it is about reading books, sharing books, etc. I think because of that, even if we stop using websites or apps, the idea itself will be able to adapt to the new technologies being created and continue to exist. I think the way the app would change is comparable to the way companies have adapted to the app market. Most major websites have changed to be more user-friendly on mobile devices and often offer apps instead of websites for ease of use. In the same way, my website would adapt a new form of technology as it becomes popular and people start to use it more than the old form.

The functions I would like to retain are the reviews and the lists people make of books they have read, books they plan to read, and even best books for summer, favorite childhood books, etc.

Final Project

Week 1  Introductions and Personal Learning  VARK Learning Test; Selected Media; Helps you find the best learning style for you IT Career Profiles ; Discussion; Outlines basics of various IT professions To Cloud or Not to Cloud ; Discussion; Article on the benefits and drawbacks of Cloud Computing, a relatively new phenomena Improving Security on the Cloud ; Discussion; A response article that focuses on how security can be made better Types of Information Systems ; Additional Research; Describes the three major types of information systems

Week 2  Information and Systems  Even Big Companies are Vulnerable ; Discussion; Discusses how large companies with sensitive user information are in danger of being hacked Globalization ; Discussion; Interesting perspective on how the world is becoming increasingly interconnected Facebook Privacy ; Discussion; Article about how Facebook tracks users even after they leave the site How to Protect Yourself (on Facebook) ; Additional Research; Follow-up article on how to protect one's privacy while using Facebook Artificial Intelligence Basic Questions; Discussion; General FAQ about Artificial Intelligence

Week 3  Hardware  How Do Computer Chips Work? ; Additional Research; A video that shows how information is sent through computer chips Silicon Valley History ; Discussion; A history of the Silicon Valley, the heart of technological innovation Android Market ; Additional Research; List of the top downloaded free applications on the Android market (continuously updated) Energy Center Information System ; Discussion; Diagram of how information travels through energy information systems Technology in Libya ; Discussion; A real world example of how information systems are being used in revolutionary ways

Week 4  Control  Dyslexia Simulation ; Selected Media; Simulation of what people with Dyslexia experience The Future of User Interface ; Discussion; Explains where user interface design is headed Teach Yourself Programming in Ten Years ; Discussion; Opinion piece about the merits of never "finishing" your programming learning About Page for Creative Commons ; Discussion; Describes what Creative Commons is (community of people who promote free exchange of information and ideas) List of Categorical Programming Languages ; Additional Research; Lists programming languages based on their focus or purpose

Week 5  Systems Development Process  Why is Cost-Benefit Analysis Important in Systems Design? ; Discussion; Explains cost-benefit analysis in the context of system design How We Prototype ; Discussion; Website that describes how to prototype website structure Software Engineer Job Description ; Discussion; Job description for Software Engineer detailing skills and expertise needed Computer Science Game Programming ; Additional Research; Video about systems development in video game programming  Ten Recession-Proof IT Careers ; Discussion; List of careers in IT that have a bright outlook

Week 6  Project Management, Research and Collaboration  NASA Engineering Process ; Discussion; 10 Unsung Collaboration Tools; Discussion; Website that describes unknown free collaboration tools Project Management Timeline ; Discussion; A timeline to help managing and leading projects JSTOR; Discussion; A link to a useful research resource Top 10 Trends in Business Analysis for 2012 ; Additional Research; List of business analysis trends gaining popularity and relevance

Week 7  Management Systems  Enterprise Systems ; Discussion; A slideshow presentation about how enterprise systems are related to information systems Stellar Customer Service ; Discussion; Article that lists basic tips to improve customer service Research: Automated Customer Service ; Additional Research; Discusses the growing popularity of automated customer service Transaction Processing System ; Discussion; Explains the functions of the transaction processing Marketing v. Sales ; Discussion; Article about the difference between marketing and sales

Week 8  Production Control  Resources to Help Teach Programming ; Additional Research; A list of 36 resources to help teach children programming Self-Aware Robots ; Discussion; This video is a TED talk about a group building self aware robots How Autonomous Vehicles Work ; Discussion; Article with diagrams that explain how autonomous vehicles work Introduction to Control Systems ; Discussion; An article about controls systems and how to use them How the Predator Drone Works ; Discussion; An article about the Predator Unmanned Aerial Vehicle used in war.

Week 9  Anytime, Anywhere  Geolocation 101; Discussion; An article that explores geolocation, how it works, and how it affects one's privacy Entertainment Has Gone Mobile ; Discussion; Discusses a survey that suggests users spend more and more of their media time on mobile devices Virtual Teachers Outperform ; Additional Research; An article about how virtual education is helping children and adults Interpol's Website Suffers "Anonymous Cyber-Attack" ; Discussion; Describes how Interpol's website was hacked by the group "Anonymous" Geolocator ; Discussion; This website will use geolocation to track the actual location of the user

Week 10  Technology Advances and Trends  Cell Phones and the Environment ; Discussion; This article talks about how cell phones affects the environment, from the process of making cell phones to using them Future of Technology 2009 ; Selected Media; This video, though old, gives an interesting look at how technology is affecting the future The Social Media Revolution 2012 ; Discussion; A response video to the earlier one posted, offers a new perspective on social networking Can a $35 computer teach kids to code? ; Discussion; Article about the Rasberry Pi computer, a minuscule computer which aims to help teach children coding Insatiable Demand for Streaming Video ; Discussion; This article talks about the incredible demand for streaming movies and TV shows