CS565Web Design & Development

Introduction to the Web Engineering

 Web Development Process

• A Web development process outlines the various steps

and activities of Web-based systems development. It
should clearly define a set of steps that developers can
follow and must be measurable and track able.

• This process assists developers in understanding the

context in which the application will be deployed and
used.
 Context Analysis

• “Context analysis,” where we elicit and

understand the system’s major objectives and
requirements, as well as the needs of the system.
• Context analysis can minimise or eliminate the
major problems plaguing large Web-based
system development. But, many developers and
project managers overlook this essential first
step in Web system development and face the
problems later when it is hard to correct them.
Web development Process
 Objectives of context analysis of Web
applications

• The objectives of context analysis are as given

below .
• Identify the stakeholders and their broader
requirements and experiences.
• Identify the functions the Web site needs to
provide (immediately, and in the short, medium,
and long term).
• Establish what information needs to be on the
Web site, how to get this information, and how
often this information may change.
 Objectives of context analysis of Web
applications

• Identify the corporate requirements in

relation to look and feel, performance,
security, and governance.
• Get a feel of the number of users (typical
and peak) and anticipated demands on the
system.
• Study similar (competitive) Web sites to
gain an understanding of their
functionalities, strengths, and limitations.
 Architecture Design

In system architecture design, we decide on various

components of the system and how they are linked. At
this stage, we design:
• An overall system architecture describing how the
network and the various servers(Web servers, application
servers and database servers) interact.
• An application architecture depicting various
information modules and the functions they support.
• A software architecture identifying various software and
database modules required to implement the application
architecture.
 Means of fulfilling the requirements of
Web application
Requirement Means of Fulfillment
Uniform look and feel across all Creation of Web pages using templates
Web pages that can easily be and style sheets
modified
Consistency of information that Storing information in a single place
may appear in different places or (such as in a database or as an XML
pages file), without duplication of
information in different places or
databases, and retrieving the required
information for presentation where and
when
Needed
Ease of information update and Provision of a back-end system to edit
maintenance information in a data repository; could
have Web interface for easy access
from anywhere
Requirement Means of Fulfillment
Ability to add new Web pages easily Dynamic generation of navigational
links, rather than predetermined
static navigational links

Decentralized system administration Provision of a multi-user login

system to access back-end systems
and inclusion of a “user
administration system” that can
assign specific functions and data
sets to content managers and other
developers.
 Web Page Design
• It determines what information is presented and how it is
presented to the users. A prototype usually contains a set
of sample pages to evaluate the page layout,
presentation, and navigation.
• Based on the feedback from the stakeholders, the page
design is suitably modified. This process may go through
a few iterations until the stakeholders and designers are
satisfied with the page layout, presentation and the
navigation structure.
• Web page content development needs to take into
consideration the stakeholders’ requirements, users’
cognitive abilities, technical issues and considerations,
nontechnical issues, earlier experiences of developers
and users, and lessons learned from similar Web
applications.
 Web Page Design

• If the Web system is intended for global use, by

users from different countries, the Web content
and presentation may have to be localized; there
also may be a need for multilingual Web sites.
• Web site’s content and usability have to be
designed from a global perspective and be
responsive to cultural sensitivity in language
along with appropriate use of color,
presentation, and animation
Web Page Design
 Web Maintenance
• After a Web-based system is developed and deployed online
for use, it needs to be maintained. As outlined earlier, content
maintenance is a continual process. We need to formulate
content maintenance policies and procedures, based on the
decision taken at the system architecture design stage on how
the information content would be maintained, and then we
need to implement them. Further, as the requirements of Web
systems grow and evolve, the system needs to be updated and
also may be redesigned to cater to the new requirements. It is
important to periodically review Web-based systems and
applications regarding the currency of information content,
potential security risks, performance of the system, and usage
patterns (by analyzing Web logs), and take suitable measures
to fix the shortcomings and weaknesses.
 Project Management

The purpose of project management is to ensure that all the

key processes and activities work in harmony. Building
successful Web-based applications requires close
coordination among various efforts involved in the Web
development cycle.
Many studies, however, reveal that poor project management
is the major cause of Web failures both during development
and subsequently in the operational phase.
Quality control, assurance and documentation are other
important activities, but they are often neglected. Like project
management, these activities need to spread throughout the
Web development lifecycle..
 Steps to Successful Development

1. Understand the system’s overall function and operational

environment, including the business objectives and
requirements, organisation culture and information
management policy.
2. Clearly identify the stakeholders — that is, the system’s
main users and their typical profiles, the organisation that
needs the system, and who funds the development.
3. Elicit or specify the (initial) functional, technical, and
nontechnical requirements of the stakeholders and the
overall system. Further, recognise that these requirements
may not remain the same; rather, they are bound to evolve
over time during the system development.
 Steps to Successful
Development

4. Develop overall system architecture of the Web-

based system that meets the technical and
nontechnical requirements.
5. Identify subprojects or sub processes to implement
the system architecture. If the subprojects are too
complex to manage, further divide them until they
become a set of manageable tasks.
6. Develop and implement the subprojects.
7. Incorporate effective mechanisms to manage the
Web system’s evolution, change, and maintenance.
As the system evolves, repeat the overall process or
some parts of it, as required.
 Steps to Successful
Development

8. Address the nontechnical issues, such as revised

business processes, organisational and
management policies, human resources
development, and legal, cultural, and social
aspects.
9. Measure the system’s performance, analyse the
usage of the Web application from Web logs,
and review and address users’ feedback and
suggestions.
10. Refine and update the system.
 Web System Design:
• Scalability refers to how well a system’s architecture
can grow, as traffic, demand for services, or resource
utilization grows. As Web sites grow, small software
weaknesses that had no initial noticeable effects can
lead to failures, reliability problems, usability
problems, and security breaches. Developing Web
applications that scale well represents one of today’s
most important development challenges.
• Flexibility is the extent to which the solution can
adapt as business requirements change. A flexible
architecture facilitates greater reusability and quicker
deployment.
 Web System Design:

Challenge is to design and develop

sustainable Web systems for better:
• Usability .interface design navigation
• Comprehension,
• Performance — responsiveness,
• Security and integrity,
• Evolution, growth, and maintainability,
• Testability
 Web Testing and Evaluation

• Testing plays a crucial role in the overall development

process. Testing and evaluation are neglected aspects of Web
development. Many developers test the system only after it
had met with failures or limitations have become apparent,
resorting to what is known as retroactive testing.
• Testing and validating a large complex Web system is a
difficult and expensive task. Testing should not be seen as a
one-off activity carried out near the end of development
process.
• The test planning needs to be carried out early in the project
lifecycle. A test plan provides a roadmap so that the Web site
can be evaluated through requirements or design stage. It also
helps to estimate the time and effort needed for testing
 Web Testing and Evaluation

Groups Web testing into the following broad categories and

provides excellent practical guidelines on how to test Web
systems:

• Browser compatibility
• Page display
• Session management
• Usability
• Content analysis
• Availability
• Backup and recovery
• Transactions
• Shopping, order processing
 Web Testing and Evaluation

• Internalizations
• Operational business procedures
• System integration
• Performance
• Login and security
 Knowledge and Skills for
Web Development
The knowledge and skills needed for large, complex Web
application development are quite diverse and span many
different disciplines. They can be broadly classified as:
Technologies supporting and facilitating Web applications
• Design methods
• Design for usability — interface design, navigation
• Design for comprehensions
• Design for performance — responsiveness
• Design for security and integrity
• Design for evolution, growth and maintainability
• Design for testability
• Graphics and multimedia design
• Web page development
 Knowledge and Skills for
Web Development

• System architecture
• Web development methods and processes
• Web project management
• Development tools
• Content management
• Web standards and regulatory requirements
 Web Development Team

• Development of a Web application requires a team

of people with diverse skills and backgrounds.
These individuals include programmers, graphic
designers, Web page designers, usability experts,
content developers, database designers and
administrators, data communication and
networking experts, and Web server administrators.
A Web development team is multidisciplinary, like
a film production team, and must be more versatile
than a traditional software development.